JP7493273B2 - Gaming Machines - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a pachinko machine.

Some gaming machines, such as pachinko machines and slot machines, are designed to allow customization of game presentation.

JP 2016-036490 A

In these gaming machines, the customization is initialized when the power is cut and restored, for convenience, such as allowing the customization to be initialized on the next business day. However, if such a function is provided, the customization will be initialized when a momentary power outage occurs during play, and there is a risk that a player who is performing game operations related to changing the content of the customization will play the game with unintended customization content, which may reduce the player's motivation to play.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and provides a gaming machine that can easily let a player who is performing a gaming operation related to changing the customization content recognize that a momentary power outage has occurred, which involves initializing the customization.

According to the present invention, a gaming machine capable of executing a pattern change accompanied by a win/lose judgment, and capable of executing a winning game after the end of the pattern change in which the win/lose judgment was executed when a specific result is derived in the win/lose judgment, configured to execute customization related to game presentation, configured to be able to change the content of the customization based on game operations, configured to be able to change the content of the customization during non-play when neither the pattern change nor the winning game is being executed, configured to initialize the content of the customization when power is turned on without executing a RAM clear process, configured to return to the pattern change when a power interruption occurs during the execution of the pattern change and then the power is turned on without executing a RAM clear process, configured to not return to the pattern change when a power interruption occurs during the execution of the pattern change and then the power is turned on with the execution of a RAM clear process, configured to not return to the pattern change, configured to include an image display means and a display control means for controlling the image display means, configured to display an image related to the change in the content of the customization, configured to change the content of the customization during the execution of a pattern change in which the result of the win/lose judgment is a loss, configured to display an image related to the change in the content of the customization ... In the first case where a power outage occurs and then power is turned on without executing a RAM clear process, the image display means enters a restored state in which it is possible to identify that the image display is being restored until the pattern change ends, and the restored state ends based on the end of the pattern change and the display of the game image is restored; in the second case where a power outage occurs during the non-play period and then power is turned on without executing a RAM clear process, the image display means does not enter the restored state and restores the display of the game image; in the second case where a power outage occurs during the non-play period and then power is turned on without executing a RAM clear process, the game operation related to the change in the content of the customization can be enabled at a timing later than the first case based on the timing at which the display of the game image is restored; the content of the customization can be changed during the execution of the pattern change; and when a new pattern change begins during the period from when the display of the game image related to the second case is restored to when the game operation related to the change in the content of the customization becomes effective, the game operation related to the change in the content of the customization can be enabled based on the start of the pattern change.

The present invention provides a gaming machine that can easily let a player who is performing a game operation related to changing the content of customization recognize that a momentary interruption has occurred that results in the initialization of the customization.

FIG. 1 is a front view of the gaming machine. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a pattern display device disposed in the area II shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a bird's-eye view showing the operation buttons arranged in the area III shown in FIG. 1 and their surroundings. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a game board installed in the gaming machine. FIG. 5 is a rear view of the gaming machine. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of the gaming machine. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the gaming machine. Figure 8(a) is a diagram that shows a schematic drawing of a lottery table for determining whether a special symbol is a hit or not, Figure 8(b) is a diagram that shows a schematic drawing of a lottery table for selecting stopping symbols used when a big hit is derived in the special symbol hit or not determination related to special symbol 1, Figure 8(c) is a diagram that shows a schematic drawing of a lottery table for selecting stopping symbols used when a small hit is derived in the special symbol hit or not determination related to special symbol 2, and Figure 8(d) is a diagram that shows a schematic drawing of a lottery table for selecting stopping symbols used when a big hit is derived in the special symbol hit or not determination related to special symbol 2. Figure 9(a) is a schematic diagram showing a special chart change pattern lottery table used in the pattern change related to special chart 1 when in the special chart change pattern derivation state PA, and Figure 9(b) is a schematic diagram showing a special chart change pattern lottery table used when a special chart change pattern HNP is determined in the pattern change related to special chart 1 when in the special chart change pattern derivation state PA. Figure 10(a) is a schematic diagram showing a special chart change pattern lottery table used in the pattern change related to special chart 2 when in the special chart change pattern derivation state PB, and Figure 10(b) is a schematic diagram showing a special chart change pattern lottery table used when special chart change pattern HNP is determined in the pattern change related to special chart 2 when in the special chart change pattern derivation state PB. Figure 11 (a) is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of a special chart change pattern lottery table used in the pattern change related to special chart 2 when the special chart change pattern derivation state PC is in effect, and Figure 11 (b) is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of a special chart change pattern lottery table used when a special chart change pattern HNP is determined in the pattern change related to special chart 2 when the special chart change pattern derivation state PC is in effect. FIG. 12(a) is a state transition diagram showing the transition of the special chart variation pattern derivation state, and FIG. 12(b) is a diagram showing the relationship of the average variation time for each special chart variation pattern derivation state. Figure 13(a) is a table organizing the items that can be set in bulk customization for normal mode and their details, Figure 13(b) is a table organizing the items that can be set in bulk customization for challenge mode and their details, and Figure 13(c) is a table organizing the items that can be set in bulk customization for RUSH mode and their details. FIG. 14 is a table summarizing the items that can be set in individual customization and their details. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a flow of content change related to bulk customization. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a flow of content change related to individual customization. FIG. 17 is a timing chart showing the flow from when a momentary interruption occurs during a losing variation to when a gaming operation related to a change in the contents of a bulk customization becomes effective. FIG. 18 is a timing chart showing the flow from when a momentary power outage occurs during non-play to when a gaming operation related to changing the contents of collective customization becomes effective. 19(a) and 19(b) are diagrams showing specific examples of display forms of the operation recommendation image. Figure 20 is a timing chart showing the flow from when a momentary interruption occurs during a losing fluctuation with three or more reserved symbols, and when the losing fluctuation ends and is restored, a new pattern fluctuation begins immediately after the momentary interruption occurs to when a game operation related to changing the contents of the bulk customization becomes effective. Figure 21 is a timing chart showing the flow from the time a momentary interruption occurs during a losing variation with less than 3 reserved symbols to the time when a new pattern variation starts following the end of the losing variation that has been restored. FIG. 22 is a timing chart showing the flow from when a momentary interruption occurs during winning fluctuation to when a gaming operation related to changing the contents of bulk customization becomes effective. FIG. 23 is a timing chart showing the flow from when a power outage and restoration accompanied by execution of a RAM clear process occurs to when a gaming operation related to a change in the contents of bulk customization becomes effective.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In all drawings, the same components are given the same reference numerals, and the description will be omitted as appropriate. In the following description, "front", "rear", "left", "right", "upper", and "lower" refer to the gaming machine 10 as viewed from the front side (player side) as shown in FIG. 1, unless otherwise specified.
In the following explanation, "advantageous (degree of advantage)" refers to an advantage for the player, and further, unless otherwise specified, refers to an advantage in terms of the number of prize balls (including electronic data) obtained, excluding aspects of presentation such as so-called premium images.

<Features of the present invention>
Before describing the details of the gaming machine 10 in this embodiment, the features of the invention described in this embodiment will be described.
In addition, when explaining the features, the configuration in parentheses is an example of the configuration of this embodiment that corresponds to the immediately preceding configuration, and the configuration may be described in parentheses for a similar purpose in the explanations of the gaming machine 10 that follow.

The present invention relates to
A gaming machine capable of executing a pattern change accompanied by a hit/miss judgment, and when a specific result (a big hit or a small hit) is derived in the hit/miss judgment, capable of executing a winning game (a big hit game or a small hit game) after the end of the pattern change in which the hit/miss judgment was executed,
It is configured to be able to perform customization (bulk customization) related to game performance,
The content of the customization is changeable based on a game operation,
The content of the customization is changeable during a non-play period when neither the symbol variation nor the winning game is being performed,
When the power is turned on without executing the RAM clear process, the above customization contents are initialized,
When a power outage occurs during the pattern change and the power is turned on without the execution of a RAM clear process, the pattern change is restored.
If a power outage occurs during the pattern change and then the power is turned on with the execution of a RAM clear process, the pattern change will not return,
Image display means;
A display control means for controlling the image display means;
Equipped with
The display control means includes:
It is possible to display an image related to the change in the content of the customization,
In the first case where a power interruption occurs during the execution of a pattern variation in which the result of the hit/miss judgment is a miss and the power is then turned on without executing a RAM clear process, the image display means is in a recovery state in which it can be specified that the image display is being restored until the end of the pattern variation, and then the recovery state ends based on the end of the pattern variation, and the display of the game image is restored;
In a second case where a power interruption occurs during the non-play state and then the power is turned on without executing a RAM clear process, the image display means does not enter the restored state and returns to displaying the game image;
In the second time, a game operation related to the change in the content of the customization may be enabled at a timing later than the first time based on the timing at which the display of the game image is restored;
The content of the customization is configured to be changeable during the execution of the pattern variation,
When a new pattern variation is started during the period from when the display of the game image related to the second time is restored to when the game operation related to the change in the content of the customization is enabled, the game operation related to the change in the content of the customization may be enabled based on the start of the pattern variation.
This is a gaming machine characterized by the above.

According to the present invention, by making it easier for a player who has been performing game operations related to a change in the content of the customization to recognize the timing when the game operations related to the change in the content of the customization will become effective, it is possible to enhance the effect of making the player more easily aware that a momentary power outage has occurred accompanied by the initialization of the customization.
Furthermore, according to the present invention, it is possible to make it easy for the player to recognize that a RAM clear process involving initialization of the above-mentioned customization has been executed, and then to execute accurate (in line with the player's intention) changes to the content of the above-mentioned customization.

The above-mentioned "game images" refer to images displayed on the main display unit 81 as the game progresses, such as the pattern rows related to decorative patterns, reserved images, and background images displayed behind these images.

The above-mentioned customization is not limited to customizing the reliability of the effect or customizing whether or not the target effect is executed, as in the present embodiment described below, but may also be customizing the presentation mode of the target effect without changing the reliability of the effect (for example, changing the subject who speaks the lines or changing the color of the image).

In the embodiment described below, an example of applying the present invention to a pachinko machine is shown, but the present invention can also be applied to a slot machine that uses a predetermined number of medals (which may be electronic data) to perform a pattern change that spins multiple reels, and pays out medals based on the result of the pattern change (the stopping pattern of the multiple reels).

The gaming machine 10 having the above characteristics will be specifically described based on the following embodiment.

<Structure of the gaming machine 10>
First, the structure of the gaming machine 10 will be described with reference to FIGS.
Figure 1 is a front view of the gaming machine 10, Figure 2 is a diagram showing a pattern display device 90 arranged in area II shown in Figure 1, Figure 3 is a bird's-eye view showing a group of operation buttons arranged in area III shown in Figure 1 and their surroundings, Figure 4 is a diagram showing a game board 50 installed in the gaming machine 10, and Figure 5 is a rear view of the gaming machine 10.
1 to 5 are merely components necessary for explaining the gaming machine 10 of this embodiment, and components and functions not shown here may be added to the gaming machine 10. In addition, the gaming machine 10 does not necessarily have to include all of the components shown here, and some components or functions may be omitted as long as the effects of the present invention are not impaired.

The gaming machine 10 of this embodiment is a so-called pachinko machine, in which gaming balls are shot into the front area (hereinafter referred to as "gaming area 50a") of a gaming board 50 on which numerous gaming nails (not shown) are erected, and a prize ball is obtained when the gaming ball enters a prize opening (such as the big prize opening 55). Note that in the following explanation, the entry of a gaming ball into a prize opening may be simply expressed as "entering (a prize opening)."

The gaming machine 10 comprises a rectangular outer frame 15 that opens at the front and rear, a middle frame 17 that detachably holds a gaming board 50 on the front side of the opening of the outer frame 15, and a front frame 20 that is configured to cover the front side of the gaming board 50.

The middle frame 17 is supported so as to be rotatable about its left end by a hinge mechanism (not shown) on the same side as the hinge mechanism 21, and can be opened and closed in front of the outer frame 15. The middle frame 17 can be locked and unlocked by a cylinder lock 23 (inserting a door key into the cylinder lock 23 and turning the door key in the opposite direction to the unlocking direction of the front frame 20 (right in this embodiment)).

The front frame 20 is supported by a hinge mechanism 21 so as to be rotatable about the left end side, and can be opened and closed relative to the middle frame 17. The front frame 20 can be locked and unlocked by a cylinder lock 23 (by inserting a door key into the cylinder lock 23 and turning the door key in the opposite direction to the unlocking direction of the middle frame 17 (left in this embodiment)).
In addition, the front frame 20 is provided with a transparent member 25 arranged to cover the playing area 50a, and the transparent member 25 protects the playing area 50a and the playing board 50 from view.
The front frame 20 also includes an upper ball tray 27 and a lower ball tray 29 for storing game balls, and the upper ball tray 27 and the lower ball tray 29 are vertically spaced apart and integral with the front frame 20. In this embodiment, a full tank detection sensor (not shown) for detecting when the lower ball tray 29 is full of discharged game balls is provided upstream of the lower discharge port 30 that discharges game balls into the lower ball tray 29.
In addition, the front frame 20 is provided with an operating handle 31 on the right side of the lower ball tray 29, and by rotating the operating handle 31, the game balls stored in the upper ball tray 27 are launched toward the game area 50a.

1 to 5, the middle frame 17 has a middle frame door open sensor 76 that detects whether the middle frame 17 is in an open state or a closed state relative to the outer frame 15, and a front frame door open sensor 77 that detects whether the front frame 20 is in an open state or a closed state relative to the middle frame 17. In this embodiment, both of these door open sensors are ON in the open state and OFF in the closed state. However, these door open sensors may be configured to be OFF in the open state and ON in the closed state.
This allows the gaming machine 10 to detect both the open/closed state of the middle frame 17 relative to the outer frame 15 , and the open/closed state of the front frame 20 relative to the middle frame 17 .

3, a group of operation buttons operated by the player is arranged on the upper surface of the upper ball tray 27. The group of operation buttons includes a ball loan button 39a and a return button 39b for accepting a return operation of a prepaid card as a main operation unit 39 electrically connected to the main control board 100 described later, and includes an effect button 37 for switching effects occurring during a game or accepting an operation by a player to obtain various information related to the gaming machine 10 as an operation unit electrically connected to the first sub-control board 200 described later, and cursor buttons 38 (up cursor button 38a, down cursor button 38b, left cursor button 38c, right cursor button 38d, center cursor button 38e) for instructing operations to the up, down, left, and right directions, respectively. Each operation unit is provided with a sensor for detecting the operation, and the control board to which it is connected detects the operation of each operation unit by a change in the detection state of the sensor.
Furthermore, a movable decoration 22 operated by an actuator such as a motor (not shown) is provided on the side of the upper ball tray 27. The movable decoration 22 is configured to be able to accept the operation of the player, similar to the above-mentioned operation buttons.

A ball ejection mechanism 36 is provided below the lower ball tray 29 to eject the game balls stored in the lower ball tray 29 downward. By operating this ball ejection mechanism 36, a bottom opening (not shown) formed on the bottom surface of the lower ball tray 29 opens, and the game balls fall naturally from the bottom opening and are ejected.
Although not shown in the figure, the upper ball tray 27 is provided with a mechanism which, similar to the ball removal mechanism 36, can be operated to move the stored balls to the lower ball tray 29, and by operating both this mechanism and the ball removal mechanism 36, it is possible to remove the stored balls.

As shown in FIG. 1, a pair of speakers 33 (33a, 33b) are disposed on the left and right sides of the upper frame portion 32 of the front frame 20. In addition, the upper frame portion 32 and the left and right side frame portions 34a, 34b of the front frame 20 are formed from a light-transmitting cover, within which a frame lamp 35 (35a, 35b, 35c) is disposed. The speaker 33 and the frame lamp 35 can emit sound or turn on or off in conjunction with effects and error notifications that occur during play.

The performance display device 80 is composed of a main display section 81 disposed approximately in the center of the game board 50, and a sub-display section 82 disposed around the main display section 81. The sub-display section 82 further includes an upper sub-display section 82a disposed above the main display section 81, a left sub-display section 82b disposed to the left of the main display section 81, and a right sub-display section 82c disposed to the right of the main display section 81.
Here, the main display unit 81 is a fixed liquid crystal display device, and the upper sub-display unit 82a, the left sub-display unit 82b, and the right sub-display unit 82c are movable liquid crystal display devices operated by actuators such as motors (not shown).

The main display unit 81 can display the changing display of a pattern row that is performed in conjunction with the changing display in the first special pattern display device 91 or the second special pattern display device 92 described below, and can also display various other effects.
In the variable display of the pattern rows (decorative patterns) displayed on the main display unit 81, the displayed decorative patterns form three pattern rows. In this embodiment, the direction of the variable display of each pattern row is downward, but the direction is not particularly limited. For example, it may be upward, left and right, depth, or a combination of these (diagonal direction).
Here, the depth direction refers to a virtual direction recognized by the player in a display mode that uses a technique (e.g., perspective) that makes the player perceive the pattern row as if it is changing from the back of the main display unit 81 to the front or vice versa, even though in reality it is a planar changing display on the display screen of the main display unit 81.
In addition, the decorative symbols in this embodiment include a "1 symbol" that imitates the number "1", a "2 symbol" that imitates the number "2", a "3 symbol" that imitates the number "3", a "4 symbol" that imitates the number "4", a "5 symbol" that imitates the number "5", a "6 symbol" that imitates the number "6", a "7 symbol" that imitates the number "7", an "8 symbol" that imitates the number "8", and a "9 symbol" that imitates the number "9", and these symbols are provided in each symbol row. In the following description, the "1 symbol", "3 symbol", "5 symbol", "7 symbol", and "9 symbol" may be collectively referred to as "odd number symbols", and the "2 symbol", "4 symbol", "6 symbol", and "8 symbol" may be collectively referred to as "even number symbols".

Each of the sub-display sections 82 is not only provided for the purpose of displaying a performance image mainly related to the performance, but is also configured to be movable.
The initial positions of the upper sub-display unit 82a are on the upper side with respect to the main display unit 81, the left sub-display unit 82b are on the left side with respect to the main display unit 81, and the right sub-display unit 82c are on the right side with respect to the main display unit 81, and each of the sub-display units 82 is configured to be movable from these initial positions to a position where the entire display area of the sub-display unit 82 overlaps with the display area of the main display unit 81. However, even when the sub-display units 82 (particularly the left sub-display unit 82b and right sub-display unit 82c) are in the initial positions shown in FIG. 4, the upper halves of the display areas are visible to the player.

In addition, the performance display device 80 in this embodiment (main display unit 81, upper sub-display unit 82a, left sub-display unit 82b, right sub-display unit 82c) has a lenticular lens arranged on its surface, and is configured to realize naked-eye stereoscopic viewing using the lenticular method. This makes it possible to display a portion of the image displayed on the performance display device 80 as a 3D image or a 2D image.

A plurality of light emitting diodes (hereinafter abbreviated as "LEDs") are arranged on the lower right side of the main display unit 81, and these LEDs form the display area of the pattern display device 90, and the pattern display device 90 displays special patterns and normal patterns.
In addition, the symbol display device 90 is disposed at a position that is more difficult for the player to see than the main display section 81, and the display area of the symbol display device 90 is smaller than the display area of the main display section 81.
In addition, the arrangement and number of LEDs in the pattern display device 90 in this embodiment are as shown in Figure 2, but this is just one example, and the arrangement and number of LEDs in the pattern display device 90 are not limited to this example.

The special symbols are symbols that are stopped and displayed as a result of a symbol change that determines whether or not to activate a special electric device (e.g., the special electric device 65). The special symbols in this embodiment include a first special symbol displayed on the first special symbol display device 91 and a second special symbol displayed on the second special symbol display device 92.
In addition, the special pattern may be abbreviated as "Special pattern", the first special pattern as "Special pattern 1", and the second special pattern as "Special pattern 2".

The normal symbol is a symbol that is stopped and displayed as a result of a symbol variation that determines whether or not to operate a normal electric role (for example, the normal electric role 61). The normal symbol in this embodiment is displayed on the normal symbol display device 93.
In addition, normal patterns are sometimes abbreviated as "Fuzu", and normal electric devices are sometimes called "denchu".

In addition to the above-mentioned display devices, the symbol display device 90 is provided with a first special symbol reservation lamp 94, a second special symbol reservation lamp 95, and a normal symbol reservation lamp 96.
The first special pattern reserve lamp 94 makes it possible to identify the number of pattern variations of reserved special pattern 1, the second special pattern reserve lamp 95 makes it possible to identify the number of pattern variations of reserved special pattern 2, and the normal pattern reserve lamp 96 makes it possible to identify the number of pattern variations of reserved normal patterns, and all of them make it possible to identify the number of corresponding pattern variations by the lighting state of the two LEDs (in this embodiment, right side always lit only = 1, left and right sides always lit = 2, right side flashing + left side always lit = 3, left and right flashing = 4).

In the following explanation, the pattern change in which the first special pattern display device 91 or the second special pattern display device 92 displays a special pattern in a variable manner and then stops displaying the special pattern will be referred to as the ``pattern change of the special pattern,'' and in the following explanation, the pattern change in which the normal pattern display device 93 displays a variable manner and then stops displaying the normal pattern will be referred to as the ``pattern change of the normal pattern.''
In addition, in the following description, the change display of the pattern row (decorative pattern) displayed on the above-mentioned main display unit 81 may be referred to as "pattern change of decorative pattern" to distinguish it from "pattern change of special pattern" and "pattern change of normal pattern".
In the following explanation, when the term "pattern change" is used, it means a pattern change of a special design unless otherwise specified.

As shown in FIG. 4, a number of obstacles such as game pegs (not shown), windmills 52, and decorative parts are arranged on the front of the game board 50, thereby defining a game area 50a in which the shot game ball can roll.
Additionally, on the left and upper sides of the play area 50a, there are arranged a curved outer rail 51 and an inner rail 53 for guiding the game balls launched by rotating the operating handle 31 to the upper part of the play area 50a. The outer rail 51 is located outside the inner rail 53 with the center of the play area 50a as the reference point. Here, the windmill 52 is a nail-shaped mechanism for changing the direction in which the game balls fall.

The gaming machine 10 allows the strength of the ball to be varied by the amount of rotation (e.g., the angle of rotation) of the operating handle 31, and various obstacles are arranged in the gaming area 50a to make the ball roll along either the first flow path X (so-called left hit), along which a weaker ball will roll, or the second flow path Y (so-called right hit), along which a stronger ball will roll.

In Figure 4, the main prize openings are shown as the large prize opening 55, the first start opening 57, the second start opening 59, the gate 63, and the general prize opening 67, but the prize openings shown are only examples, and the number and arrangement of the openings may be changed as appropriate.

The large prize opening 55 is located in the lower right of the play area 50a. A large prize opening sensor 72 is attached to the large prize opening 55, and a prize ball is determined to have been won in the large prize opening 55 based on the detection result of the large prize opening sensor 72, and the number of prize balls associated with the large prize opening 55 (15 in this embodiment) is awarded.
In this embodiment, the obstacles are positioned so that more game balls roll toward the large prize opening 55 when rolling from the second flow path Y compared to when rolling from the first flow path X.

A special electric device 65 is disposed above the large prize opening 55. The special electric device 65 is a member that can be switched between an open state, in which it is easy to win a prize in the large prize opening 55, and a closed state, in which it is difficult to win a prize, and is switched to either the open state or the closed state by a special electric device solenoid 66.
More specifically, the special electric device 65 is in an open state during a part of a big win game that starts when a big win is derived by the special chart hit/miss judgment described later, or during a part of a small win game that starts when a small win is derived by the special chart hit/miss judgment, and thus entry into the big winning hole 55 is permitted. In this way, when the special electric device 65 is in an open state, it is easy to enter the big winning hole 55, so the big win game and small win game in which the chance of winning a prize ball is greatly increased can be said to be advantageous game states. In addition, although details will be described later, the small win game in this embodiment can cause a big win game.
In a jackpot game, the special electric device 65 is alternately set to an open state and a closed state, and one open state (sometimes referred to as a "round game", and the total number of round games occurring in one jackpot may be referred to as the "number of rounds") ends when a predetermined number (10 in this embodiment) of game balls have entered the large prize opening 55, and the special electric device 65 enters a closed state. Furthermore, one open state in a jackpot game also ends when a sufficient time (30 s (seconds) in this embodiment) has elapsed for a predetermined number of game balls to enter the large prize opening 55.
On the other hand, in the small win game, the game ends when the special electric device 65 is in an open state for 1.8 seconds or when 10 game balls enter the large winning hole 55. Therefore, in the small win game, it is more difficult for game balls to enter the large winning hole 55 than in the large win game.

The first starting hole 57 is located at the center of the game area 50a. A first starting hole sensor 70 is attached to the first starting hole 57, and the winning of the first starting hole 57 is determined based on the detection result of the first starting hole sensor 70, and the number of prize balls (4 in this embodiment) associated with the first starting hole 57 is awarded. In at least some cases where the winning of the first starting hole 57 is determined, the pattern of the special chart 1 is changed.
In addition, in the game area 50a of this embodiment, obstacles such as game nails are arranged so that more game balls roll toward the first starting hole 57 when they roll from the first flow path X compared to when they roll from the second flow path Y.

The second starting hole 59 is located in the lower right of the play area 50a. A second starting hole sensor 71 is attached to the second starting hole 59, and the winning of the second starting hole 59 is determined based on the detection result of the second starting hole sensor 71, and the number of prize balls associated with the second starting hole 59 (1 in this embodiment) is awarded.
In at least some cases where a winning jackpot has been awarded at the second starting hole 59, the pattern on special chart 2 will change.
In addition, in the game area 50a of this embodiment, obstacles such as game nails are arranged so that more game balls roll toward the second starting hole 59 when they roll from the second flow path Y compared to when they roll from the first flow path X.

A normal electric device 61 is disposed in the flow path connected to the second starting port 59. The normal electric device 61 is a member that can be switched between an open state in which it is easy to insert a game ball into the second starting port 59 and a closed state in which it is difficult to insert the ball, and is switched to either the open state or the closed state by a normal electric device solenoid 62.
More specifically, the normal electric device 61 is opened when the result of the normal winning/losing judgment described later is a normal winning (hereinafter, sometimes simply referred to as a "normal winning"), and thus entry into the second starting hole 59 is permitted. In this way, when the normal electric device 61 is in the open state, entry into the second starting hole 59 is possible, so that the opportunity for the pattern variation of the special drawing 2 to be executed can be greatly increased while suppressing the decrease in the game balls by the prize balls.

The gate 63 is located in the right center of the game area 50a. A gate sensor 74 is attached to the gate 63, and winning at the gate 63 is determined based on the detection result of the gate sensor 74. In at least some cases where winning at the gate 63 is determined, the pattern of the normal symbol is changed.
In this embodiment, the gate 63 can be a trigger for starting a jackpot game in a jackpot game standby state described later. Specifically, when the entry (passage) of a game ball into the gate 63 is detected in the jackpot game state, the standby jackpot game is started. Note that, a passage area for a game ball that triggers the start of a jackpot game may be provided in addition to the gate 63, but the passage area is preferably provided on the second flow path Y, similar to the gate 63.

The general winning opening 67 is located at the lower left of the game area 50a. A general winning opening sensor 73 is attached to the general winning opening 67, and a winning ball is determined based on the detection result of the general winning opening sensor 73, and the number of prize balls associated with the general winning opening 67 (4 in this embodiment) is awarded.
In this embodiment, the obstacles are arranged so that more game balls roll toward the general winning opening 67 when rolling from the first flow path X compared to when rolling from the second flow path Y, but the obstacles may be arranged so that more game balls roll toward the general winning opening 67 when rolling from the second flow path Y. Also, a plurality of general winning openings 67 may be provided.

The outlet 69 is disposed at the bottom of the game area 50a. Game balls that are shot into the game area 50a and do not enter any of the winning holes described above fall into the outlet 69 and are treated as out balls.
In this embodiment, an out ball sensor 75 (not shown) is provided for detecting out balls, which are game balls that enter the winning hole and the out hole 69.

In addition to the above-mentioned sensors, the game board 50 is also provided with a magnetic detection sensor for detecting magnetism and a radio wave detection sensor for detecting radio waves (both not shown) to prevent fraudulent acts such as receiving prize balls illegally.

As shown in Figure 5, the rear of the game board 50 is fitted with a main control board case 109 in which the main control board 100 is stored, a first sub-control board case 209 in which the first sub-control board 200 is stored, a second sub-control board case 309 in which the second sub-control board 300 is stored, a power supply control board case 509 in which the power supply control board 500 is stored, and a payout control board case 409 in which the payout control board 400 is stored.In addition to the rear of the first sub-control board case 209 and the second sub-control board case 309, an opening/closing cover 45 which covers part of the rear of the main control board case 109 is attached in a removable manner.
In addition, a RAM clear switch 43 is provided on the main control board 100.
Furthermore, the substrate cases and covers that cover the respective substrates are made of transparent materials, and the corresponding substrates can be seen through each case and cover.

A game ball tank 46 is disposed on the back of the game board 50, above the opening and closing cover 45, in which game balls supplied from the game island's ball supply equipment are stored. The game ball tank 46 is further connected to a payout passage 49 that leads to the upper ball tray 27 via a tank rail 47 and a payout unit 48, and the balls paid out by the payout unit 48 are paid out through the payout passage 49 to the upper ball tray 27.

So far, we have explained the structure of the gaming machine 10 in this embodiment, but this is just one specific example, and the present invention can also be implemented with a different configuration.

<Regarding the control configuration of the gaming machine 10>
Next, a control configuration of the gaming machine 10 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of the gaming machine 10. Note that the control configuration shown in Fig. 6 is necessary for explaining the gaming machine 10 according to this embodiment, and the gaming machine 10 may have a control configuration not shown in Fig. 6.

The main control board 100 is equipped with a CPU 101 that performs various calculation processes related to the game, a ROM 102 that stores data such as control programs and various lottery tables, a RAM 103 that functions as a work area and buffer memory that serves as a temporary storage area, an I/O port 104 that inputs and outputs signals between peripheral boards and each device, and a random number circuit 105 that operates separately from the program processing by the CPU 101 and generates random numbers (hard random numbers), and these are connected to each other via an internal bus.

The CPU 101 executes various processes related to the main control of the game by reading out various control programs stored in the ROM 102 and performing arithmetic processing.
The RAM 103 is backed up by a backup power source generated in a backup power circuit 502, which will be described later. Specifically, among the information stored in the RAM 103, various information is backed up so that when power is restored (when power is turned on) after a power outage, the data can be used to restore the gaming machine 10 to the state it was in immediately before the power outage. For example, in addition to the data of the stack pointer and each register, etc., held when the power outage occurred, information related to the game, such as the state of the gaming machine 10 at that time (a game stop state or a playable state), the current normal drawing state, etc., are backed up. Note that this information is cleared (initialized) by a RAM clear process. Therefore, after the RAM is cleared, a special pattern variation pattern derivation state PA (low probability of normal drawing, which will be described later) is newly set. Furthermore, when a RAM clear process is executed, the pattern string related to the decorative pattern is in a state in which the initial pattern combination is stopped and displayed, and even if the RAM clear process is not executed when the power is turned on and the pattern variation is not being executed at the time of the previous power outage, the initial pattern combination is also in a state in which it is stopped and displayed. In addition, this initial symbol combination is displayed as a static combination only when the power is turned on, and is not displayed as a static combination due to the execution of symbol variation.

In this embodiment, at least an area in which such information related to the game is stored (sometimes referred to as the game-related area of RAM 103) is backed up, as well as an area in which the complement of a checksum and a backup flag related to the game-related area of RAM 103 are stored (sometimes referred to as the game-related backup information area of RAM 103). Then, when power is restored, the gaming machine 10 returns to normal using the various pieces of information stored in the backed-up game-related area of RAM 103 and the game-related backup information area of RAM 103.
In addition, the specific method of backup in this embodiment is not limited. For example, the area to be backed up in the RAM 103 may be realized with a configuration capable of non-volatilely retaining data even in a power-off state. As another example, in the RAM 103, different hardware may be provided for a first memory configured to be capable of non-volatilely retaining data even in a power-off state and a second memory referenced during operation of the gaming machine 10. In that case, the gaming machine 10 may save the information to be backed up from the second memory to the first memory when power is cut off, and recover the saved information from the first memory to the second memory when power is restored.

The main control board 100 is also electrically connected to the first start gate sensor 70, the second start gate sensor 71, the big prize gate sensor 72, the general prize gate sensor 73, the gate sensor 74, the out ball sensor 75, the middle frame door open sensor 76, the front frame door open sensor 77, etc., and is configured to be able to input detection signals from these sensors to the CPU 101 via the I/O port 104. Although not shown in the figure, in addition to these sensors, the main control board 100 is also electrically connected to a full tank detection sensor, a magnetic detection sensor, and a radio wave detection sensor, and is configured to be able to input detection signals from these sensors to the CPU 101 via the I/O port 104.

In addition, the main control board 100 is electrically connected to the first special pattern display device 91, the second special pattern display device 92, the normal pattern display device 93, the first special pattern reserve lamp 94, the second special pattern reserve lamp 95, the normal pattern reserve lamp 96, the normal electric role solenoid 62 and the special electric role solenoid 66, and is configured to be able to control these via the I/O port 104.
Similarly, the main control board 100 is electrically connected to the main operation unit 39 and the RAM clear switch 43 , and is configured to be able to detect the operation of the main operation unit 39 .

The main control board 100 and the first sub-control board 200 are connected by eight parallel signal lines and one strobe line, and are connected so that communication is possible in only one direction, from the main control board 100 to the first sub-control board 200, and various performance control commands are transmitted from the main control board 100 to the first sub-control board 200.
Furthermore, data cannot be transmitted from the first sub-control board 200 to the main control board 100, and the first sub-control board 200 is configured so as not to be able to request the main control board 100 to transmit data.
In addition, in this embodiment, a parallel transmission method is used for transmitting data from the main control board 100 to the first sub-control board 200, but a serial transmission method may also be used.

The first sub-control board 200 comprises a CPU 201 which performs various arithmetic processing related to game presentation based on presentation control commands from the main control board 100, a ROM 202 which stores data such as presentation control programs and various lottery tables, a RAM 203 which functions as a work area or buffer memory that serves as a temporary storage area, and an I/O port 204 which inputs and outputs signals between peripheral boards and each device, and these are connected to each other via an internal bus, and the CPU 201 is configured to execute main control related to game presentation in accordance with the control program stored in ROM 202.
In addition, the first sub-control board 200 is electrically connected to the performance button 37, the cursor button 38, and the movable decorative body 22, and is configured to be able to detect operation of the operating parts.

In addition, the first sub-control board 200, through performance control processing based on performance control commands from the main control board 100, generates image control commands that instruct the image to be displayed on the second sub-control board 300, audio control commands that instruct the audio to be output to the audio control board 310, lamp control data for controlling the lighting of various lamps such as the frame lamp 35, and movement control data for controlling the movement of the movable decorative body 22 and the sub-display unit 82, etc.
Here, the first sub-control board 200 is connected to the second sub-control board 300 and the voice control board 310 to enable two-way communication, and each control command (image control command, voice control command) is transmitted from the first sub-control board 200 to the second sub-control board 300 or the voice control board 310, while in response, a response command (ACK command) indicating that the control command was received successfully is transmitted from each control board (second sub-control board 300, voice control board 310) to the first sub-control board 200.

The first sub-control board 200 is also electrically connected to the frame lamp 35, and transmits lamp control data via the I/O port 204. The frame lamp 35 is configured such that its illumination is controlled by the lamp control data transmitted from the first sub-control board 200.
Furthermore, the first sub-control board 200 is electrically connected to the movable decorative body 22 and the sub-display unit 82, and transmits movement control data via the I/O port 204. The movable decorative body 22 and the sub-display unit 82 are configured so that their movement is controlled by the movement control data transmitted from the first sub-control board 200.

The second sub-control board 300, although not shown in the figure, is equipped with a CPU that performs various calculations related to image presentation based on image control commands from the first sub-control board 200, a ROM that stores image control programs and various data, etc., a RAM that functions as a work area and buffer memory that serves as a temporary storage area, and an I/O port that inputs and outputs signals between peripheral boards and each device, and the CPU is configured to execute main control related to image presentation in accordance with the control program stored in the ROM (all not shown in the figure).
Furthermore, the second sub-control board 300 is equipped with a VDP that generates image data according to the content of the performance determined by a performance content determination means 225 (described later) based on a control signal received from the CPU, and a sound source IC that generates sound data according to the content of the performance based on a control signal received from the CPU. The VDP is a so-called image processor that reads image data stored in an image ROM in response to an instruction from the CPU, processes the image data, and transmits the generated image data to the main display unit 81 and the sub-display unit 82. A high-speed VRAM that is used to expand and process the image data read from the image ROM is also connected to this VDP.

The audio control board 310 is equipped with a CPU 311 that performs various calculation processes related to audio performance based on audio control commands from the first sub-control board 200, a ROM 312 that stores audio control programs and audio data, etc., a RAM 313 that functions as a work area or buffer memory that serves as a temporary storage area, and an I/O port 314 that inputs and outputs signals between peripheral boards and each device, and is configured so that the CPU 311 executes main control related to audio performance according to the control program stored in the ROM 312. Therefore, the audio control board 310 can read audio data stored in the ROM 312 in response to audio control commands received from the first sub-control board 200, synthesize the read audio data, and transmit the final synthesized audio data to the speaker 33 via an amplifier, causing the speaker 33 to output audio.

The dispensing control board 400 is mainly composed of a CPU, ROM and RAM (all not shown).
In addition, the payout control board 400 is connected to the main control board 100 for two-way communication, and performs control to drive the payout unit 48 to pay out game balls based on a payout control command from the main control board 100, and also controls the launch of the game balls by synchronously driving the ball feeding mechanism and the launching mechanism based on the amount of operation of the operating handle 31.

The power supply control board 500 is composed of a normal power supply circuit 501 which generates normal power to be supplied to electronic and electrical components such as the control board mentioned above based on the primary power supply supplied from the game island's power supply equipment, a backup power supply circuit 502 which generates backup power, and a power interruption detection circuit 503 which detects power interruption (a predetermined voltage drop in the voltage supplied by the normal power supply).
In addition, a power switch 40 is connected to the power supply control board 500, and assuming that primary power is being supplied from the game island's power supply equipment, when the power switch 40 is turned ON, normal power is generated in the normal power supply circuit 501 of the power supply control board 500, and power is supplied to electronic and electrical components including the above-mentioned control boards (main control board 100, first sub-control board 200, second sub-control board 300, and payout control board 400).
In addition, when a power interruption detection circuit 503 detects a power interruption, the power supply control board 500 transmits a power interruption signal (NMI signal) to each of the main control board 100, the first sub-control board 200, and the dispensing control board 400.
In addition, the backup power circuit 502 is configured to be charged when power is being supplied to the gaming machine 10 from the power supply equipment of the gaming island.
In addition, the backup power supply circuit 502 may be provided on the dispensing control board 400, and the power interruption detection circuit 503 may not be provided on the power supply control board 500, but may be provided on each of the main control board 100, the first sub-control board 200, and the dispensing control board 400.

<Functional configuration of the gaming machine 10>
Next, the functional configuration of the gaming machine 10 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 7. Fig. 7 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the gaming machine 10. Note that the functional configuration shown in Fig. 7 is necessary for explaining the gaming machine 10 of this embodiment, and the gaming machine 10 may have a functional configuration not shown in Fig. 7. Also, when explaining the functional configuration, Figs. 8 to 12 will be referred to as necessary.

As shown in FIG. 7, the main control board 100 is equipped with a ball entry determination means 110, a main random number generation means 115, a main hold control means 120, a pre-determination means 125, a special drawing means 130, a normal drawing means 135, a jackpot game control means 140, a pattern display control means 145, an electric role control means 150, a game state control means 155, a main information storage means 160, a main error control means 165, a main command management means 170, a power restoration process execution means 175, and a power cut process execution means 180. These means are functional representations of what is realized by each control configuration on the main control board 100 described using FIG. 6.

First, the main information storage means 160 is a means for temporarily storing data read by the means provided in the main control board 100, data derived by calculations in the means, etc., in the corresponding storage areas. In particular, the data (performance control commands) stored in the transmission command storage area of the main information storage means 160 is transmitted by the command transmission means to the sub-command management means 270 of the first sub-control board 200, which will be described later, after being stored.

The ball winning determination means 110 determines whether a ball has won at each winning hole based on the detection results of a sensor installed at each winning hole.
In addition, when the ball entry determination means 110 determines that a game ball has entered a prize hole by a sensor installed in a prize hole such as the large prize hole sensor 72, it generates a presentation control command (prize entry command) including information that can identify the type of sensor related to the prize, and stores the command in the transmission command storage area of the main information storage means 160.

The main random number generating means 115 is capable of generating multiple types of random numbers with different update ranges depending on the random number circuit 105, and when a win at a winning port is determined, it obtains (latches) one or more random numbers corresponding to that winning port from the random number circuit 105.
More specifically, when it is determined that the first start gate 57 or the second start gate 59 has been won, the main random number generating means 115 obtains a random number for determining whether or not the special symbol has been won, a random number for drawing a special symbol stop symbol, and a random number for drawing a special symbol change pattern, which will be described later. When it is determined that the gate 63 has been won, the main random number generating means 115 stores a random number for determining whether or not the normal symbol has been won, a random number for drawing a normal symbol stop symbol, and a random number for drawing a normal symbol change pattern, which will be described later, in a corresponding storage area of the main information storage means 160.
The random number circuit 105 monitors whether the multiple types of random numbers it updates are being updated normally, and if an update abnormality occurs in which the random numbers are not updated normally, information indicating the occurrence of the abnormality is written to a specific storage area of the random number circuit 105. Therefore, the CPU 101 can grasp that an update abnormality has occurred in the random number circuit 105.

The main reservation control means 120 controls the reservation of the pattern change of the special chart and the reservation of the pattern change of the normal chart. Regarding the special chart 1, the random number for determining whether the special chart is a hit or not, the random number for drawing the stop pattern of the special chart, and the random number for drawing the pattern of the special chart, which are obtained as a result of winning the first starting port 57, are reserved (stored) as operation reservation information of the special chart 1.
More specifically, the main hold control means 120 is provided with a hold counter (hereinafter referred to as the "special chart 1 hold counter") which is incremented by 1 each time the activation hold information of special chart 1 is held and decremented by 1 each time the activation hold information of special chart 1 is used (used in the draw by the special chart draw means 130), and stores the activation hold information in a storage area corresponding to the current special chart 1 hold counter of the main information storage means 160 until the value of the special chart 1 hold counter reaches an upper limit value (4 in this embodiment), and clears the used activation hold information each time the activation hold information is used, and controls the remaining activation hold information to be moved (shifted) from the current storage area to a storage area corresponding to a special chart 1 hold counter which is 1 less than the current special chart 1 hold counter, in order from the smallest special chart 1 hold counter.
In addition, the main reserve control means 120 performs the same control as described above for special drawing 2 and regular drawing separately from special drawing 1, and the reserve counter for special drawing 2 is referred to as the special drawing 2 reserve counter, and the upper limit value of the special drawing 2 reserve counter in this embodiment is 4.
In addition, in the following explanation, "suspended operation information" may be expressed as "suspended pattern change" or simply as "suspended."
In addition, when the main hold control means 120 updates (adds or subtracts) the operation hold information (hold counter) of special chart 1 or special chart 2, it generates a performance control command (hold command) including the special chart 1 hold counter and the special chart 2 hold counter, and stores the command in the transmission command storage area of the main information storage means 160.
In this embodiment, when both the operation pending information corresponding to the special chart 1 and the operation pending information corresponding to the special chart 2 are reserved, a priority variation is performed in which the operation pending information corresponding to the special chart 2 is used preferentially. However, instead of this priority variation, a winning order variation in which the operation pending information is used in the order in which it is reserved regardless of whether it corresponds to the special chart 1 or the special chart 2, or a simultaneous variation in which the operation pending information corresponding to the special chart 1 and the operation pending information corresponding to the special chart 2 are simultaneously used when both the operation pending information corresponding to the special chart 1 and the operation pending information corresponding to the special chart 2 are reserved may be adopted.

The advance judgment means 125 executes an advance judgment for a pre-reading performance targeting the pending activation information in at least some cases where the pending activation information of a special chart is pending at a specified advance judgment timing.
More specifically, the pre-judgment means 125 reads out each random number of the operation pending information that has been reserved this time, and executes pre-judgment for each of the special chart hit/miss judgment, special chart stop pattern lottery, and special chart change pattern lottery, which will be described later. In each pre-judgment, a lottery table (not shown) that is the same as or equivalent to the lottery table used in the lottery corresponding to each pre-judgment is used. Therefore, the results of these pre-judgments will be the same as the results of the lottery that will be executed later.
In addition, the pre-determination means 125 generates a performance control command (pre-determination command) including the derived result of the pre-determination, and stores the command in a transmission command storage area of the main information storage means 160.
Since the pre-determination command is transmitted (generated and stored in the transmission command storage area of the main information storage means 160) at least part of the timing of the predetermined pre-determination, it will be transmitted following the above-mentioned pending command. Here, the predetermined timing of the pre-determination is, for example, the timing when the activation pending information of the special chart is reserved. In this embodiment, if the activation pending information of the special chart 1 is reserved during the normal chart high probability described below, the pre-determination is restricted, and therefore the transmission of the pre-determination command corresponding to the pre-determination is also restricted. On the other hand, if the activation pending information of the special chart 2 is reserved during the normal chart low probability described below, the pre-determination may be restricted, or it may not be necessary to restrict the pre-determination.

The special drawing means 130 includes a special drawing hit/miss judgment means 131, a special drawing stop pattern drawing means 132, and a special drawing change pattern derivation means 133, and executes processing by each means in the order of the special drawing hit/miss judgment means 131, the special drawing stop pattern drawing means 132, and the special drawing change pattern derivation means 133. When the special drawing change start condition is satisfied, the special drawing lottery means 130 reads out the earliest operation pending information among the operation pending information reserved in the main information storage means 160.
In addition, "the conditions for starting the change of the special chart are satisfied" means, for example, that all of the following conditions are satisfied: a jackpot game is not being played, neither Special Chart 1 nor Special Chart 2 is currently changing the pattern (including when the pattern change related to Special Chart 1 or Special Chart 2 is displayed as stopped), and at least one of Special Chart 1 and Special Chart 2 has pending operation information.

8 to 11 are diagrams that diagrammatically show lottery tables used in the main control board 100, and will be referred to as necessary in the following description.
In addition, in a lottery using a lottery table, including other than these lottery tables, the lottery values stored in the lottery table are added to the read random number in a predetermined order (if there is only one target lottery value, the number of additions is one), and a result corresponding to the lottery value where a carry (overflow) occurs is derived as the result of the lottery. Similarly, in the explanation of the lottery table, the lottery table is given a name for convenience of explanation, but it is sufficient that the data such as the lottery value included in the lottery table corresponding to the name is identifiable and stored in each ROM, and these names do not specify the area in which the data is stored. In the illustrated lottery table, there are items described for convenience of explanation, and if "-" or "0" is described as the lottery value, these do not necessarily indicate the data stored in each ROM. And, there is no winning result with "-" or "0" described as the lottery value. Furthermore, if the same lottery value as the random number range used for the lottery (the number of random numbers that can be obtained in the range) is described in the lottery table, the result is derived 100%, so it is not necessary to perform a lottery. Furthermore, if the total value of the lottery values used in one lottery matches the random number range used in the lottery, a carry will always occur when adding the final lottery value, so that addition does not need to be performed, and in that case, the lottery values used in that addition themselves become unnecessary.

The special pattern hit/miss judgment means 131 reads out a random number for the special pattern hit/miss judgment for each pattern change, and executes a special pattern hit/miss judgment to judge by lottery whether a big hit, a small hit, or a miss will be won, using the read out random number and a lottery table for the special pattern hit/miss judgment.
8(a) is a diagram showing a schematic drawing of a lottery table for determining whether a special drawing is a hit or a miss, and the drawing table is different between special drawing 1 and special drawing 2, and the range of random numbers used in these determinations is 0 to 65535. Therefore, in the special drawing hit or miss determination in special drawing 1, a big hit is derived with a probability of 205/65536 (about 1/320), and a miss is otherwise obtained, and a small hit is not derived. On the other hand, in the special drawing hit or miss determination in special drawing 2, a big hit is derived with a probability of 205/65536 (about 1/320), a small hit is derived with a probability of 1820/65536 (about 1/36.0), and a miss is otherwise obtained.
In this embodiment, as described later, a jackpot game can occur via a small jackpot, so the probability of a jackpot being derived in the special chart hit/miss determination is set to the one probability mentioned above.

When the result of the special chart hit/miss judgment is a big hit or a small hit, the special chart stopping pattern lottery means 132 determines the special chart stopping pattern by lottery using a random number for special chart stopping pattern lottery (in this embodiment, in the range of 0 to 999) and a lottery table for special chart stopping pattern lottery.
Specifically, as shown in Figure 8 (b), which is a schematic diagram of a lottery table for selecting the stopping patterns used when a jackpot is derived in the special pattern hit/miss judgment related to special pattern 1, when a jackpot is derived in the special pattern hit/miss judgment related to special pattern 1, pattern A is determined as the stopping pattern with a probability of 100/1000 (1/10), and pattern B is determined as the stopping pattern with a probability of 900/1000 (approximately 1/1.11).
Here, whether pattern A or pattern B is determined, the game will become a normal high probability game after the end of the jackpot game corresponding to these stopped patterns, but the number of pattern changes during which the normal high probability game continues (hereinafter referred to as the "prescribed number of times related to the normal high probability game") is 80 times after the end of the jackpot game when pattern A is determined, and 40 times after the end of the jackpot game when pattern B is determined. In addition, the number of rounds of the jackpot game corresponding to pattern A is 10, while the number of rounds of the jackpot game corresponding to pattern B is 4. Therefore, it can be said that pattern A is more advantageous than pattern B in terms of both the number of rounds and the prescribed number of times related to the normal high probability game.

As shown in Figure 8 (c), which is a schematic diagram of a lottery table for selecting the stopping patterns used when a small win is derived in the special pattern hit/miss determination related to special pattern 2, when a small win is derived in the special pattern hit/miss determination related to special pattern 2, pattern a is determined as the stopping pattern with a probability of 700/1000 (approximately 1/1.43), and pattern b is determined with a probability of 300/1000 (approximately 1/3.33).
Here, the symbol a is a stopping symbol that has 10 rounds of the big win game that occurs in the small win game related to the symbol, and becomes a normal high probability after the end of the big win game, and the specified number of times related to the normal high probability is 80. On the other hand, the symbol b is a stopping symbol that has 4 rounds of the big win game that occurs in the small win game related to the stopping symbol, and becomes a normal high probability after the end of the big win game, and the specified number of times related to the normal high probability is 80. Therefore, it can be said that the symbol a is more advantageous than the symbol b in terms of the number of rounds.
In addition, when a big win game occurs in a small win game, the number of rounds in the big win game is the number calculated by counting the small win game as one round. Furthermore, in the following explanation, a big win game caused by a small win game related to the pattern a may be expressed as a "big win game related to the pattern a", and a big win game caused by a small win game related to the pattern b may be expressed as a "big win game related to the pattern b".

As shown in FIG. 8(d), which is a schematic diagram of a lottery table for drawing the stopping symbols used when a jackpot is derived in the special symbol hit/miss judgment related to special symbol 2, when a jackpot is derived in the special symbol hit/miss judgment related to special symbol 2, symbol c is determined as the stopping symbol with a probability of 1000/1000 (1/1). In particular, symbol c is a stopping symbol for which the number of rounds of the jackpot game corresponding to the stopping symbol is 10, and which becomes a normal symbol with high probability after the jackpot game ends, and the specified number of times for the normal symbol with high probability is 80.

In addition, the special chart stop pattern selection means 132 determines pattern C as the stop pattern when the result of the special chart hit/miss judgment for special chart 1 is a miss, and determines pattern d as the stop pattern when the result of the special chart hit/miss judgment for special chart 2 is a miss.

In this way, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the jackpot game caused by the pattern change related to special chart 2 tends to be more advantageous than the jackpot game caused by the pattern change related to special chart 1. Therefore, the transition from the special chart change pattern derivation state PA to another special chart change pattern derivation state described later can further increase the interest in the game.

The special pattern variation pattern derivation means 133 has a plurality of types of special pattern variation pattern selection tables to be referred to when determining the special pattern variation pattern, and selects one special pattern variation pattern selection table for determining the current special pattern variation pattern based on the current special pattern variation pattern derivation state and the result of the current special pattern hit/miss judgment, determines one special pattern variation pattern using the selected special pattern variation pattern selection table and the random number for special pattern variation pattern selection, and determines the variation time based on the determined special pattern variation pattern. Here, the variation time refers to the time from the start of the pattern variation related to the special pattern (special pattern 1 or special pattern 2) to the end of the pattern variation.
Although details of the transition conditions will be described later, the special chart variation pattern derivation state in this embodiment includes a special chart variation pattern derivation state PA, a special chart variation pattern derivation state PB, and a special chart variation pattern derivation state PC. The above-mentioned method of determining the special chart variation pattern is adopted in the pattern variation of the special chart 1 in the special chart variation pattern derivation state PA, and is adopted in the pattern variation of the special chart 2 in the special chart variation pattern derivation state PB and the special chart variation pattern derivation state PC. In addition, in the pattern variation related to the other special chart in each special chart variation pattern derivation state, a predetermined special chart variation pattern is determined according to the result of the special chart hit/miss judgment.

Figure 9 (a) is a schematic diagram showing a special chart change pattern lottery table used for the pattern change related to special chart 1 during the special chart change pattern derivation state PA, and the range of random numbers used in the lottery is 0 to 999.
As shown in Figure 9 (a), in the pattern change related to special chart 1 during the special chart change pattern derivation state PA, special chart change patterns HNP to ASP-C can be determined.
Specifically, when the result of the special chart hit/miss judgment in the pattern change related to the special chart 1 during the special chart change pattern derivation state PA is a miss, the special chart change pattern HNP occurs with a probability of 900/1000 (approximately 1/1.11), the special chart change pattern HRP occurs with a probability of 52/1000 (approximately 1/19.2), the special chart change pattern HSP1-A occurs with a probability of 13/1000 (approximately 1/76.9), and the special chart change pattern HS occurs with a probability of 11/1000 (approximately 1/90.9). P1-B, special chart fluctuation pattern HSP2-A with a probability of 9/1000 (about 1/111), special chart fluctuation pattern HSP2-B with a probability of 7/1000 (about 1/143), special chart fluctuation pattern HSP3-A with a probability of 5/1000 (1/200), and special chart fluctuation pattern HSP3-B with a probability of 3/1000 (about 1/333) are determined, and in this case, special chart fluctuation pattern ASP1-A to special chart fluctuation pattern ASP-C are not determined. Note that, although details will be described later using FIG. 9(b), when the special chart fluctuation pattern HNP is determined, the special chart fluctuation pattern is further specified using the value of the special chart 1 reserved counter at the start of this pattern fluctuation.
On the other hand, when the result of the special chart hit/miss judgment in the pattern change related to the special chart 1 during the special chart change pattern derivation state PA is a jackpot, the special chart change pattern ASP1-A has a probability of 90/1000 (about 1/11.1), the special chart change pattern ASP1-B has a probability of 110/1000 (about 1/9.09), the special chart change pattern ASP2-A has a probability of 135/1000 (about 1/7.41), and the special chart change pattern ASP3-B has a probability of 165/1000 (about 1/6.01). Special chart fluctuation pattern ASP2-B is determined with a probability of 1.06), special chart fluctuation pattern ASP3-A with a probability of 180/1000 (approximately 1/5.56), special chart fluctuation pattern ASP3-B with a probability of 220/1000 (approximately 1/4.56), and special chart fluctuation pattern ASP-C with a probability of 100/1000 (1/10), and in this case, special chart fluctuation pattern HNP to special chart fluctuation pattern HSP3-B will not be determined.
In this embodiment, when the result of the special chart hit/miss judgment in the pattern fluctuation related to the special chart 1 in the special chart fluctuation pattern derivation state PA is a miss, any one of the special chart fluctuation patterns HRP to HSP3-B is determined at a rate of 100/1000 (1/10), and the special chart fluctuation pattern HNP is determined at a rate of 900/1000 (approximately 1/1.11). Furthermore, when the result of the special chart hit/miss judgment in the pattern fluctuation related to the special chart 1 in the special chart fluctuation pattern derivation state PA is a big hit, any one of the special chart fluctuation patterns ASP1-A to ASP-C is determined at a rate of 1000/1000 (1/1).
Here, in the description of the special pattern variation pattern of this embodiment, when two special pattern variation patterns are described with "~" between them, the description of the special pattern variation pattern existing between the special pattern variation pattern described earlier and the special pattern variation pattern described later is omitted according to the order described in the drawing related to the special pattern variation pattern lottery table for each special pattern variation pattern derivation state. Also, in the description of the special pattern variation pattern of this embodiment, regardless of whether the corresponding variation time is described or not, if the names of the special pattern variation patterns are different, it indicates that the different special pattern variation patterns are different.

Figure 9 (b) is a schematic diagram showing a special chart variation pattern lottery table used when a special chart variation pattern HNP is determined in the pattern variation related to special chart 1 during the special chart variation pattern derivation state PA, and the range of the random numbers used in the lottery (different from the random numbers used in the lottery related to the special chart variation pattern lottery table shown in Figure 9 (a)) is 0 to 999.
As shown in Figure 9 (b), the special chart variation patterns HNP that can be determined in the pattern variation related to special chart 1 during special chart variation pattern derivation state PA include special chart variation pattern HNP-A with a variation time of 3200 ms (milliseconds), special chart variation pattern HNP-B with a variation time of 5600 ms, special chart variation pattern HNP-C with a variation time of 8000 ms, and special chart variation pattern HNP-D with a variation time of 11200 ms, in that order of increasing variation time.
Specifically, if the special pattern 1 reserved counter is 3 at the start of the current pattern change, the special pattern change pattern HNP-A is determined with a probability of 1000/1000 (1/1). Similarly, if the special pattern 1 reserved counter is 2 at the start of the current pattern change, the special pattern change pattern HNP-A is determined with a probability of 150/1000 (about 1/6.67), and the special pattern change pattern HNP-B is determined with a probability of 850/1000 (about 1/1.18). If the special pattern 1 reserved counter is 1 at the start of the current pattern change, the special pattern change pattern HNP-A is determined with a probability of 50/1000 (1/20), and the special pattern change pattern HNP-B is determined with a probability of 150/1000 (about 1/6.67). The special pattern variation pattern HNP-B is determined with a probability of 800/1000 (1/1.25), and the special pattern variation pattern HNP-C is determined with a probability of 800/1000 (1/1.25). If the special pattern 1 reserved counter at the start of the pattern variation is 0, the special pattern variation pattern HNP-B is determined with a probability of 50/1000 (1/20), the special pattern variation pattern HNP-C is determined with a probability of 100/1000 (1/10), and the special pattern variation pattern HNP-D is determined with a probability of 850/1000 (about 1/1.18). In the following explanation, when the value of the special pattern reserved counter to be referred to is 3, it may be called "retention 3", when the value of the special pattern reserved counter is 2, it may be called "retention 2", when the value of the special pattern reserved counter is 1, it may be called "retention 1", and when the value of the special pattern reserved counter is 0, it may be called "retention 0".
In this way, when the special pattern change pattern HNP is determined in the special pattern change pattern derivation state PA, the special pattern change pattern (change time) that is likely to be determined by the value of the special pattern 1 reserved counter at the start of the current pattern change differs. More specifically, the smaller the value of the special pattern 1 reserved counter at the start of the current pattern change, the more likely it is that a long pattern change will be determined (the larger the value of the special pattern 1 reserved counter at the start of the current pattern change, the more likely it is that a short change time will be determined).
In addition, such special chart variation pattern HNP (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as the "basic special chart variation pattern") also exists in the special chart variation pattern derivation state PB and the special chart variation pattern derivation state PC, and in these special chart variation pattern derivation states, the reserved counter referenced is different from that in the special chart variation pattern derivation state PA, and in both cases the value of the special chart 2 reserved counter is referenced.

FIG. 10(a) is a schematic diagram showing a special chart change pattern lottery table used for the pattern change related to special chart 2 in the special chart change pattern derivation state PB, and the range of random numbers used in the lottery is 0 to 999.
As shown in FIG. 10(a), in the pattern change related to special chart 2 in the special chart change pattern derivation state PB, special chart change patterns HNP to ASP-F can be determined.
Specifically, when the result of the special chart hit/miss judgment in the pattern change related to the special chart 2 in the special chart change pattern derivation state PB is a miss, the special chart change pattern HNP is determined with a probability of 960/1000 (about 1/1.04), the special chart change pattern HSP-D is determined with a probability of 20/1000 (1/50), the special chart change pattern HSP-E is determined with a probability of 15/1000 (about 1/66.7), and the special chart change pattern HSP-F is determined with a probability of 5/1000 (1/200). In this case, the special chart change pattern ASP-D to the special chart change pattern ASP-F are not determined. Note that, although details will be described later using FIG. 10(b), when the special chart change pattern HNP is determined, the special chart change pattern is further specified using the value of the special chart 2 reserved counter at the start of the current pattern change. The method of determining the special chart variation pattern using this special chart 2 pending counter is also the same in the special chart variation pattern derivation state PB described later.
On the other hand, if the result of the special chart hit/miss judgment in the pattern change related to special chart 2 during the special chart change pattern derivation state PB is a big hit or a small hit, special chart change pattern ASP-D is determined with a probability of 500/1000 (1/2), special chart change pattern ASP-E with a probability of 350/1000 (approximately 1/2.86), and special chart change pattern ASP-F with a probability of 150/1000 (approximately 1/6.67), and in such case, special chart change pattern HNP to special chart change pattern HSP-F are not determined.
In this way, in this embodiment, when the result of the special chart hit/miss judgment in the pattern fluctuation related to the special chart 2 in the special chart fluctuation pattern derivation state PB is a miss, any one of the special chart fluctuation patterns HSP-D to HSP-F is determined at a rate of 40/1000 (1/25), and the special chart fluctuation pattern HNP is determined at a rate of 960/1000 (approximately 1/1.04). Furthermore, when the result of the special chart hit/miss judgment in the special chart fluctuation pattern derivation state PB is a big hit or a small hit, any one of the special chart fluctuation patterns ASP-D to ASP-F is determined at a rate of 1000/1000 (1/1).

Figure 10 (b) is a schematic diagram showing a special chart variation pattern lottery table used when a special chart variation pattern HNP is determined in the pattern variation related to special chart 2 during the special chart variation pattern derivation state PB, and the range of the random numbers used in the lottery (different from the random numbers used in the lottery related to the special chart variation pattern lottery table shown in Figure 10 (a)) is 0 to 999.
As shown in Figure 10 (b), the special chart variation patterns HNP that can be determined in the pattern variation related to special chart 2 in the special chart variation pattern derivation state PB include special chart variation pattern HNP-E with a variation time of 3000 ms and special chart variation pattern HNP-F with a variation time of 15000 ms.
Specifically, when the special pattern 2 reserved counter is 3 at the start of the current pattern change, when the special pattern 2 reserved counter is 2 at the start of the current pattern change, and when the special pattern 2 reserved counter is 1 at the start of the current pattern change, the special pattern change pattern HNP-E is determined with a probability of 1000/1000 (1/1), and in these cases, the special pattern change pattern HNP-F is not determined. On the other hand, when the special pattern 2 reserved counter is 0 at the start of the current pattern change, the special pattern change pattern HNP-F is determined with a probability of 1000/1000 (1/1), and in these cases, the special pattern change pattern HNP-E is not determined.
In addition, special chart variation pattern HNP-E and special chart variation pattern HNP-F are different from either the special chart variation pattern that can be determined when special chart variation pattern HNP is determined in the pattern variation related to special chart 1 in the above-mentioned special chart variation pattern derivation state PA, or the special chart variation pattern that can be determined when special chart variation pattern HNP is determined in the pattern variation related to the special chart variation pattern derivation state PC described below.

FIG. 11(a) is a schematic diagram showing a special chart change pattern lottery table used for the pattern change related to special chart 2 when the special chart change pattern derivation state PC is in, and the range of random numbers used in the lottery is 0 to 999.
As shown in FIG. 11(a), in the pattern change related to special chart 2 in the special chart change pattern derivation state PC, special chart change pattern HNP to special chart change pattern ASP-I can be determined.
Specifically, if the result of the special chart hit/miss judgment in the pattern change related to special chart 2 during the special chart change pattern derivation state PC is a miss, special chart change pattern HNP is determined with a probability of 950/1000 (approximately 1/1.05), special chart change pattern HSP-G with a probability of 25/1000 (1/40), special chart change pattern HSP-H with a probability of 15/1000 (approximately 1/66.7), and special chart change pattern HSP-I with a probability of 10/1000 (1/100), and in this case, special chart change pattern ASP-G to special chart change pattern ASP-I are not determined.
On the other hand, if the result of the special chart hit/miss judgment in the pattern change related to special chart 2 during the special chart change pattern derivation state PC is a big hit or a small hit, regardless of the number of rotations in the special chart change pattern derivation state PC, special chart change pattern ASP-G is determined with a probability of 500/1000 (1/2), special chart change pattern ASP-H is determined with a probability of 350/1000 (approximately 1/2.86), and special chart change pattern ASP-I is determined with a probability of 150/1000 (approximately 1/6.67), and in such case, special chart change pattern HNP to special chart change pattern HSP-I are not determined.

Figure 11 (b) is a schematic diagram showing a special chart variation pattern lottery table used when a special chart variation pattern HNP is determined in the pattern variation related to special chart 2 during the special chart variation pattern derivation state PC, and the range of the random numbers used in the lottery (different from the random numbers used in the lottery related to the special chart variation pattern lottery table shown in Figure 11 (a)) is 0 to 999.
As shown in Figure 11 (b), the special chart variation patterns HNP that can be determined in the pattern variation related to special chart 2 when the special chart variation pattern derivation state PC is in include special chart variation pattern HNP-G with a variation time of 2000 ms and special chart variation pattern HNP-H with a variation time of 10000 ms.
Specifically, when the special pattern 2 reserved counter is 3 at the start of the current pattern change, when the special pattern 2 reserved counter is 2 at the start of the current pattern change, and when the special pattern 2 reserved counter is 1 at the start of the current pattern change, the special pattern change pattern HNP-G is determined with a probability of 1000/1000 (1/1), and in these cases, the special pattern change pattern HNP-H is not determined. On the other hand, when the special pattern 2 reserved counter is 0 at the start of the current pattern change, the special pattern change pattern HNP-H is determined with a probability of 1000/1000 (1/1), and in these cases, the special pattern change pattern HNP-G is not determined.
In addition, special chart variation pattern HNP-G and special chart variation pattern HNP-H are different from both the special chart variation pattern that can be determined when special chart variation pattern HNP is determined in the pattern variation related to special chart 1 in the above-mentioned special chart variation pattern derivation state PA, and the special chart variation pattern that can be determined when special chart variation pattern HNP is determined in the pattern variation related to special chart 2 in the above-mentioned special chart variation pattern derivation state PB.

In addition, at the start of the pattern change, the special pattern change pattern derivation means 133 generates a performance control command (change start command) that includes the result of the special pattern hit/miss judgment, the determined special pattern to stop, and the determined special pattern change pattern, and stores the command in the transmission command storage area of the main information storage means 160.

The regular map lottery means 135, like the special map lottery means 130, reads out the most recent pending activation information from the pending activation information stored in the main information storage means 160 when the regular map pattern is not changing, and uses the read random number to perform a regular map hit/miss judgment to determine whether the regular map is correct or not, and determines various parameters related to the regular map (regular map change time, regular map stop display time, etc.) based on the result of the regular map hit/miss judgment and information such as the current special map change pattern derivation state.
In the normal drawing hit/miss judgment, there are a normal drawing lottery state with a high probability (sometimes abbreviated as "normal drawing high probability") and a normal drawing lottery state with a low probability (sometimes abbreviated as "normal drawing low probability"). Although the drawing of the lottery table is omitted, in this embodiment, in the normal drawing high probability, the probability of a normal drawing hit is 65535/65536, and the remaining probability of a 1/65536 miss, while in the normal drawing low probability, the probability of a normal drawing hit is 1/65536, and the remaining probability of a 65535/65536 miss. In addition, in the normal drawing low probability, it may be set so that the normal drawing does not hit (65536/65536 miss).

When a jackpot game starts, the jackpot game control means 140 generates a presentation control command (jackpot start command) including information related to the jackpot game (number of rounds and the state of the subsequent special chart variation pattern derivation) and stores it in the transmission command storage area of the main information storage means 160, and when the jackpot game ends, it generates a presentation control command (jackpot end command) including the demo time related to the end demo of the jackpot game and stores it in the transmission command storage area of the main information storage means 160. This is also true for jackpot games caused by small jackpot games.

In addition, the jackpot game control means 140 starts a small jackpot game when the result of the special win/loss determination is a small jackpot, and if the game ball passes through the V winning area (not shown) provided in the large winning port 55 during the small jackpot game, it makes it possible to start a jackpot game corresponding to the small jackpot after the small jackpot game ends. Therefore, in this embodiment, the small jackpot game functions as a trigger for a jackpot game. Note that if the game ball does not pass through the V winning area during the small jackpot game, the jackpot game does not start after the small jackpot game ends.

The pattern display control means 145 displays the special pattern 1 on the first special pattern display device 91 in a variable manner according to the variable time corresponding to the determined special pattern variable pattern of the special pattern 1, and displays the special pattern 1 in a stopped pattern determined by the special pattern stop pattern lottery after the variable time has elapsed. Similarly, the special pattern 2 is displayed on the second special pattern display device 92 in a variable manner according to the variable time corresponding to the determined special pattern variable pattern of the special pattern 2, and displays the special pattern 2 in a stopped pattern determined by the special pattern stop pattern lottery after the variable time has elapsed. Here, the stop display time (interval) of the pattern change related to the special chart refers to the time from when the special chart is stopped and displayed until the pattern change of the next special chart can start (when the result of the special chart hit/miss judgment is a miss), or the time from when the pattern change of the special chart ends and until the big win game or small win game starts (when the result of the normal chart hit/miss judgment is a normal hit), and the stop display time of the pattern change related to the special chart in this embodiment is a uniform 300 ms, regardless of the type of special chart or the result of the special chart hit/miss judgment.
In addition, the pattern display control means 145 has a special chart game timer for managing the time (variation time, stop display time) related to the display of special chart 1 and special chart 2, and when the special chart is stopped from being displayed (at the timing when the value of the special chart game timer becomes "0"), it generates a presentation control command (variation stop command) for requesting a confirmed stop display of the decorative pattern, and stores the command in the transmission command storage area of the main information storage means 160.
Here, the definite stop display of the decorative pattern refers to the final stop display of the decorative pattern in the pattern change, and is different from the provisional stop display of the decorative pattern that may occur during the execution of the pattern change. In the provisional stop display of the decorative pattern, for example, the decorative pattern displayed as stopped is accompanied by a small movement (so-called swinging movement) up and down, while in the definite stop display of the decorative pattern, the decorative pattern displayed as stopped is not accompanied by swinging movement, and so on. Even if the same decorative pattern is displayed as stopped, the display mode of the decorative pattern displayed as definite stop is different from the display mode of the decorative pattern displayed as provisional stop. Therefore, the player can recognize whether the display of the decorative pattern is a definite stop display or a provisional stop display.

Furthermore, the pattern display control means 145 causes the normal pattern display device 93 to display the normal pattern in a variable manner in accordance with a variable time corresponding to the determined normal pattern variable pattern of the normal pattern, and after the variable time has elapsed, causes the normal pattern to be displayed in a stopped state with the determined stopping pattern.
In addition, the pattern display control means 145 has a regular pattern play timer for managing the time related to the regular pattern (regular pattern change time, regular pattern stop display time, etc.).

The electric device control means 150 outputs a control signal to the special electric device solenoid 66 during the big win game or small win game described above, and opens the special electric device 65 according to an opening pattern corresponding to the stopping pattern of the special chart.

The game state control means 155 controls the normal drawing state. Specifically, the game state control means 155 sets the normal drawing state to low probability regardless of the stopped pattern of the special drawing related to the jackpot game at the start of the jackpot game, sets the normal drawing state to high probability until the pattern changes for the specified number of times related to the high normal drawing are performed when a specified condition such as the end of the jackpot game is met, and sets the normal drawing state to low probability when the pattern changes for the specified number of times related to the high normal drawing are completed. In particular, in this embodiment, during a small jackpot game, the normal drawing state is maintained in the pattern change that caused the small jackpot game.

Such a general drawing state changes in link with the above-mentioned special drawing variation pattern derivation state, and the transition of the special drawing variation pattern derivation state is managed by the game state control means 155. The transition of the special drawing variation pattern derivation state will be described below with reference to Figures 12(a) and 12(b). Note that Figure 12(a) is a state transition diagram showing the transition of the special drawing variation pattern derivation state, and Figure 12(b) is a diagram showing the relationship of the average variation time for each special drawing variation pattern derivation state.
As shown in Fig. 12(a), in the special pattern derivation state, there is a special pattern derivation state PA as a special pattern derivation state corresponding to a normal pattern low probability, and there are a special pattern derivation state PB and a special pattern derivation state PC as special pattern derivation states corresponding to a normal pattern high probability, and any of these special pattern derivation states is set except during a jackpot game. And, there are transition conditions (i) to (v) for the transition conditions between the special pattern derivation state PA and the special pattern derivation state PC.

Specifically, transition condition (i) is the end of a jackpot game related to pattern B, transition condition (ii) is the end of a jackpot game related to pattern A, transition condition (iii) is the end of a jackpot game related to pattern a, pattern b, or pattern c, transition condition (iv) is the end of pattern change in which the number of pattern changes related to special pattern 2 executed without a jackpot game in normal pattern high probability becomes 40 times (the specified number of times related to normal pattern high probability in special pattern change pattern derivation state PB), and transition condition (v) is the end of pattern change in which the number of pattern changes related to special pattern 2 executed without a jackpot game in normal pattern high probability becomes 80 times (the specified number of times related to normal pattern high probability in special pattern change pattern derivation state PC).
In addition, when a big win game occurs in the special pattern variation pattern derivation state PC, the state transitions to the special pattern variation pattern derivation state PC again after the end of the big win game, and the number of pattern variations related to the special pattern 2 that can be executed up to the specified number of times related to the high probability of the normal pattern in the special pattern variation pattern derivation state PC is reset. Also, although not shown, if a big win game does not occur in a small win game that occurs in the special pattern variation pattern derivation state PC, and if a big win game does not occur in a small win game related to the transition condition (iii), the end of the small win game triggers the current special pattern variation pattern derivation state to end and transition to the special pattern variation pattern derivation state PA.

As shown in FIG. 12(b), the average fluctuation time of each of the special pattern fluctuation pattern derivation state PA, the special pattern fluctuation pattern derivation state PB, and the special pattern fluctuation pattern derivation state PC is shorter in the order of special pattern fluctuation pattern derivation state PA, special pattern fluctuation pattern derivation state PB, and special pattern fluctuation pattern derivation state PC. This is due to the length of the fluctuation time related to the basic special pattern fluctuation pattern that is most likely to be determined in each special pattern fluctuation pattern derivation state. Here, the average fluctuation time refers to the sum of the fluctuation times derived by multiplying the occurrence rate (the probability that may occur in any pattern fluctuation, derived by multiplying the probability of the result of the special pattern hit/miss judgment by the probability of the special pattern fluctuation pattern) for each of the fluctuation times related to the special pattern fluctuation pattern that can be selected in a certain special pattern fluctuation pattern derivation state. However, in this embodiment, when there is only one special pattern fluctuation pattern that can be selected in the certain special pattern fluctuation pattern derivation state, the fluctuation time related to the special pattern fluctuation pattern is treated as the average fluctuation time.

In addition, when a transition occurs between the regular chart lottery state and the special chart variation pattern derivation state, the game state control means 155 generates a presentation control command (game state designation command) including the state after the transition, and stores the command in the transmission command storage area of the main information storage means 160.
Furthermore, the game state control means 155 counts the number of times that the pattern change related to the transition to another special pattern change pattern derivation state is executed in each special pattern change pattern derivation state, and generates a performance control command including the number of times of the counted pattern change each time the pattern change is started, and stores the command in the transmission command area of the main information storage means 160. The information included in the performance control command may be included in the above-mentioned change start command.

As described above, the main information storage means 160 is a means for temporarily storing data read by each means and data derived by calculations or the like by each means in the corresponding storage areas.

The main error control means 165 monitors the input information of the I/O port 104 and judges whether or not the gaming machine 10 is in an error state. If it is judged that the gaming machine 10 is in an error state, a performance control command (error command) including information capable of identifying the error state is stored in a transmission command storage area of the main information storage means 160.
In this embodiment, the error states determined by the main error control means 165 include, for example, a main board error based on the occurrence of the update abnormality described above, a magnetic error based on magnetic detection by the magnetic detection sensor, a radio wave error based on radio wave detection by the radio wave detection sensor, a right-hit error based on detection of a game ball by the gate sensor 74, a door open error based on detection of the opening of the middle frame 17 by the middle frame open door sensor 76 or detection of the opening of the front frame 20 by the front frame open door sensor 77, a full tank error based on detection of game balls by the full tank detection sensor, a remaining prize ball error that occurs when there are remaining prize balls, etc. The occurrence or non-occurrence of an error state according to this embodiment is monitored during a playable state described later.
To summarize some of the occurrence conditions of these errors, the main board error is an error state indicating an update abnormality of the random number circuit 105 as described above, and occurs when the update abnormality occurs. Next, the magnetic error is an error state that occurs when the magnetic detection sensor detects magnetic fields continuously for 500 ms, and the radio wave error is an error state that occurs when the number of radio wave detections by the radio wave detection sensor (the cumulative number of detections since the last power-on) occurs a total of five times. In addition, the right-hit error is an error state that occurs when the gate sensor 74 detects a game ball three times (the number of detections is reset 1000 ms after the last detection) during normal times (low probability of special drawing and low probability of normal drawing), and the full tank error is an error state that occurs when the full tank detection sensor is ON, that is, when a game ball is detected by the full tank detection sensor.

In this embodiment, among these error states, the main board error, magnetic error, and radio wave error are treated as error states of relatively high importance (hereinafter, simply referred to as "error states of high importance"). Therefore, when such an error state of high importance occurs, the main error control means 165 executes a game progress restriction process to prevent the game from progressing, such as restricting the release of game balls by the payout control board 400, in addition to the process of turning on the security signal.
Here, the security signal is a type of signal output from an external terminal board (not shown) provided on the gaming machine 10 to a device outside the gaming machine (a data display device or a hall computer). Including the following explanation, turning the security signal ON refers to starting the output of the security signal, and turning the security signal OFF refers to ending the output of the security signal. In addition, in the process of turning the security signal OFF in this embodiment, the elapsed time since the security signal was turned ON is not taken into consideration, but the elapsed time may be taken into consideration, that is, the security signal may not be turned OFF before a certain time has elapsed since the security signal was turned ON. In this embodiment, when a magnetic error and a radio wave error occur, the process of turning the security signal ON is executed, but the payout control board 400 may not execute the above-mentioned game progress regulation process.
In addition, when an error state of high importance occurs, the first sub-control board 200 or the second sub-control board 300 executes a notification display that can identify which error state has occurred.
Furthermore, these error states of high importance can only be released (the error state can be terminated) by cutting off and restoring power, and the security signal related to the error state is turned OFF when the power is cut off (it remains ON until the power is cut off).
The error state with a high degree of importance described above is merely an example, and other error states may be provided as the error state.

On the other hand, for error states of relatively low importance (hereinafter simply referred to as "error states of low importance") such as a right-hit error, a door-open error, a full tank error, and a remaining prize ball error, the release of game balls is not restricted, and the game is allowed to proceed. When these error states occur, the first sub-control board 200 and the second sub-control board 300 execute a notification effect that can identify which error state has occurred.
Also, a right-hit error ends when the execution of the notification effect related to the error state ends, a door open error ends when the middle frame open door sensor 76 detects the middle frame 17 in a closed state or the front frame open door sensor 77 detects the front frame 20 in a closed state, a remaining prize ball error ends when there are no more prize balls, and a full tank error ends when the full tank detection sensor no longer detects game balls. When the termination conditions for these error states are met, a performance control command (return command) indicating that the termination conditions have been met is stored in the transmission command storage area of the main information storage means 160.
In addition, the above-mentioned error state of low importance is one example, and other error states may be provided as the error state, such as an abnormal winning error that occurs when a game ball is detected by the large winning opening sensor 72 after a predetermined time has elapsed since the large winning opening 55 is closed during a big win game, and when such an error state is provided, a notification effect related to the error state is executed. Note that the abnormal winning error may be terminated when the execution of the notification effect related to the error state is completed, similar to the above-mentioned right hit error.
In this embodiment, an error state of high importance is given priority over the above-mentioned error states of low importance.

When a performance control command is stored in the transmission command storage area of the main information storage means 160, the main command management means 170 transmits the performance control command to the first sub-control board 200.
In principle, each performance control command is transmitted in the order in which it is stored in the transmission command storage area of the main information storage means 160.

The power restoration process execution means 175 includes a power restoration state setting means 176 and a playable state transition means 179.

The power recovery state setting means 176 executes a power recovery state setting process to set a power recovery state based on whether or not there is an abnormality in the RAM 103 when power is restored, the state at the time of the power outage immediately before the power restoration, the state of the RAM clear switch 43 when power is restored, and the state of the inner frame door open sensor 76 when power is restored. The power recovery states set by this process include a game stop state and a game ready state (which may or may not involve the execution of a RAM clear process).
Specifically, if there is an abnormality in the RAM 103 when power is restored, a game-stopped state is set regardless of the state of the RAM clear switch 43 and the state of the middle frame door open sensor 76 when power is restored. Also, if there is no abnormality in the RAM 103 when power is restored and the RAM clear switch 43 is ON (pressed state) when power is restored, the RAM clear process is executed and a playable state is set on the condition that the middle frame door open sensor 76 is ON when power is restored (if the middle frame door open sensor 76 is OFF when power is restored, the RAM clear process is not executed and a playable state is set), and if there is no abnormality in the RAM 103 when power is restored and the RAM clear switch 43 is OFF (not pressed state) when power is restored, the RAM clear process is not executed and a playable state is set.
Here, the game stop state refers to a power restoration state in which game progress is impossible by not executing processing according to the detection results of the sensors installed at each winning port (it is not necessary to look at the detection results of the sensors themselves).
On the other hand, the playable state is a power-recovery state in which the game can be played by executing a process according to the detection result of the sensor installed in each winning port. In particular, if the RAM clear process is not executed when the power is restored, the game returns to the playable state at the time of the last power outage. For example, if the last power outage was during a big win game or a small win game, the game returns to the big win game or small win game that was being executed, and if the last power outage was during a pattern change, the game returns to the pattern change that was being executed.

Whether or not there is an abnormality in RAM 103 is determined by executing a RAM abnormality check at the beginning of the power recovery state setting process (specifically, a process that determines whether or not a backup flag is stored (whether or not the backup flag is ON) in the backup information area related to the target area, derives a checksum of the target area and the complement stored in the backup information area related to the target area if the backup flag is stored (if the backup flag is ON), and determines that the target area is normal if the calculation result is 0, and otherwise determines that the target area is abnormal) on the game-related area of RAM 103.

The playable state transition means 179 executes a playable state transition process for transitioning to a playable state when a playable state is set.
More specifically, in the game play state transition process, if the security signal output is ON, a process of turning the security signal output OFF and initial settings of the device are performed.
In addition, during the initial setting of the device, processes such as sending a launch permission command to the payout control board 400 to permit the launch of game balls, setting the state in which balls will be valid when they enter each winning port, and setting data to activate the random number circuit 105 are performed.

The power cut-off process execution means 180 executes a power cut-off process based on receiving a power cut-off signal from the power supply control board 500 .
Specifically, for an area of RAM 103 related to gaming, a process is performed in which a checksum for that area is derived and the complement of that checksum is stored in a backup information area of RAM 103 related to gaming, and a backup flag indicating that a power cut process has been performed for that area is turned ON (a backup flag is stored in the backup information area of RAM 103 related to gaming).

As shown in Figure 7, the first sub-control board 200 is equipped with a sub-random number generation means 210, a normal performance control means 220, a sub-error control means 230, a lamp control means 240, a movable prop control means 245, a sub-information storage means 260, and a sub-command management means 270, and these means are functional representations of what is realized by each control configuration on the first sub-control board 200 described using Figure 6.
Here, the sub-information storage means 260 is a means for temporarily storing data read by the means provided in the first sub-control board 200, data derived by calculations in the means, etc., in the corresponding storage areas. Also, the performance control command transmitted from the main command management means 170 is stored in a received command storage area of the sub-information storage means 260 by the sub-command management means 270. In the following explanation, the storage of the performance control command transmitted from the main command management means 170 in a received command storage area of the sub-information storage means 260 by the sub-command management means 270 may be simply expressed as "receiving a performance control command."

The sub-random number generating means 210 can generate random numbers (software random numbers) that are updated by program processing by the CPU 201, and obtains random numbers at the timing when each lottery (details will be described later) is executed by the normal performance control means 220.

The normal presentation control means 220 includes a presentation mode control means 221, a presentation route determination means 222, a sub-hold control means 223, a look-ahead presentation control means 224, a presentation content determination means 225, a decorative pattern control means 226, and a jackpot presentation control means 227.

When the presentation mode control means 221 receives a game state designation command, it controls the transition of the presentation mode in a manner consistent with the special chart variation pattern derivation state managed on the main control board 100 side.
The presentation modes in this embodiment are broadly divided into normal mode, challenge mode, and RUSH mode, with the normal mode corresponding to the special chart variation pattern derivation state PA, the challenge mode corresponding to the special chart variation pattern derivation state PB, and the RUSH mode corresponding to the special chart variation pattern derivation state PC.

When the presentation route determination means 222 receives a pre-determination command, it determines (sets) a presentation route corresponding to the reserved pattern change based on the result of the pre-determination included in the command (in this embodiment, the special pattern change pattern). Note that, when the special pattern change pattern corresponding to the pattern change is the above-mentioned special pattern change pattern HNP, the presentation route determination means 222 does not determine a presentation route when the pre-determination command is transmitted, and at the start of the pattern change, it determines a presentation route based on the special pattern change pattern included in the change start command (for example, in the special pattern change pattern derivation state PA, the special pattern change pattern HNP-A to the special pattern change pattern HNP-D).
Here, the presentation route refers to the presentation from the start to the end of the pattern change, and specifies the process of the presentation that notifies the result of the special pattern determination in the pattern change, and the content of the presentation executed in the pattern change is determined by the presentation content determination means 225 described later in accordance with the presentation route corresponding to the pattern change.

The presentation route in this embodiment is roughly divided into a miss presentation route that notifies that the result of the special chart hit/miss judgment in the current pattern change is a miss (the result of the special chart hit/miss judgment in the current pattern change is neither a big hit nor a small hit), and a big hit presentation route that notifies that the result of the special chart hit/miss judgment in the current pattern change is a big hit or a small hit. Furthermore, the miss presentation route includes a non-development miss presentation route in which the development presentation is not executed, and a development miss presentation route in which the development presentation is executed. Note that, as described later, when the big hit presentation route is determined, the development presentation is executed.
Here, the development performance is a performance that is executed after the decorative pattern reaches a reach state (a state in which the decorative pattern is displayed stationary except for one pattern row, and the remaining pattern rows are displayed in a variable manner), and at the end of the performance, it is notified whether the result of the special pattern hit/miss judgment in the current pattern change is a big hit or a small hit. Therefore, in the development performance corresponding to the development miss performance route, a series of performances corresponding to the development performance is executed, and at the end of the performance, it is notified that the result of the special pattern hit/miss judgment in the current pattern change is neither a big hit nor a small hit. On the other hand, in the development performance corresponding to the big hit performance route, a series of performances corresponding to the development performance is executed, and at the end of the performance, it is notified that the result of the special pattern hit/miss judgment in the current pattern change is a big hit or a small hit.
In particular, in this embodiment, in one presentation mode, each of the determined special chart variation patterns corresponds to one different presentation route. Therefore, in the following description, the presentation route for the special chart variation pattern may be simply expressed as a special chart variation pattern. However, multiple presentation routes may be made to correspond to one special chart variation pattern, and in this case, one presentation route may be determined from multiple presentation routes corresponding to the determined special chart variation pattern.

When the sub-hold control means 223 receives a hold command (hereinafter, sometimes simply referred to as the occurrence of a hold winning), it sets performance data for displaying the number of hold images corresponding to the special hold counter 1 and the number of hold images corresponding to the special hold counter 2 in the hold display area (not shown) of the main display unit 81 based on the information on the special hold counter 1 and the special hold counter 2 included in the command. Note that the hold images are images that are the subject of a hold pre-reading performance (an example of a pre-reading performance described later) that changes into various forms that suggest the degree of advantage, such as the expectation of a jackpot game occurring.

When the pre-reading performance control means 224 receives a pre-determination command, it determines the content of the so-called pre-reading performance based on the result of the pre-determination included in the command.

When the performance content determination means 225 receives a change start command, it determines the content of the performance to be executed in the current pattern change in accordance with the setting status (reflection status) of the collective customization and individual customization described below, in addition to the performance route already determined by the performance route determination means 222.
More specifically, the performance content determination means 225 determines the performance pattern selection table to be referenced for the content of the performance (performance pattern) for each performance execution timing in the pattern change based on the performance route determined by the performance route determination means 222, the setting status of the collective customization, and the setting status of the individual customization, and determines the content of the performance by lottery using the determined performance pattern selection table. In particular, by doing so, it is possible to change the content of the performance related to (executed according to) the determined performance route, and to provide a connection between the performances in one pattern change. In addition, even if the same performance route is determined, it is possible to diversify the performance to be executed according to the setting status of the collective customization, the setting status of the individual customization, etc.

When the decorative pattern control means 226 receives a variation start command, it determines the final (confirmed stopped) combination of decorative patterns (left pattern, middle pattern, right pattern) based on the stopped pattern of the determined special pattern.
Specifically, in the pattern variation related to the special pattern 1, one of the pattern alignments related to the decorative patterns other than the 7 pattern is determined for the pattern A and the pattern B, and the pattern alignment related to the 7 pattern is determined for the pattern C. Therefore, in this embodiment, even if the pattern alignment related to the decorative patterns other than the 7 pattern is stopped and displayed, the subsequent performance mode, that is, the performance mode set at the opportunity of the end of the big win game related to the pattern alignment, cannot be accurately determined from the pattern alignment that is stopped and displayed. On the other hand, when the pattern alignment related to the 7 pattern is stopped and displayed, the player can determine that the RUSH mode will be set afterwards.
In addition, in the pattern variation related to the special chart 2, any of the pattern combinations related to the decorative patterns except for the 7 pattern is determined for the patterns a and c, and any of the pattern combinations related to the decorative patterns including the 7 pattern is determined for the patterns b and d. Therefore, in this embodiment, when the pattern combinations related to the decorative patterns except for the 7 pattern are stopped and displayed, it is not possible to accurately determine the number of rounds of the jackpot game related to the pattern combination. On the other hand, when the pattern combinations related to the 7 pattern are stopped and displayed, the player can determine that the number of rounds of the jackpot game related to the pattern combination is 10.

When the jackpot start command is received, the jackpot effect control means 227 determines the content of the effects during the jackpot game based on the information included in the command, etc. The effects during the jackpot game include a round effect that notifies the player that a round game is in progress and an end demo effect that notifies the player that the jackpot game has ended.
In addition, in this embodiment, the jackpot presentation control means 227 is configured to be capable of determining the content of a presentation mode announcement presentation that announces the presentation mode after the end of a jackpot game (capable of identifying the presentation mode after the end of a jackpot game), and details of the presentation including the start conditions will be described later.

The normal performance control means 220 reads out performance data for each device corresponding to each performance at the execution timing of that performance, in accordance with the content of the performance determined by the above-mentioned means provided in the first sub-control board 200. If the read performance data includes performance data related to images, an image control command is generated based on that performance data, and the command is stored in a transmission command storage area of the sub-information storage means 260. Furthermore, if the read performance data includes performance data related to sound, an audio control command related to sound is generated based on that performance data, and the command is stored in a transmission command storage area of the sub-information storage means 260.
In addition, the normal presentation control means 220 reads presentation data for informing the player that the game has become playable with the execution of the RAM clear process when the power recovery state at the time of power recovery becomes playable with the execution of the RAM clear process, and reads presentation data for informing the player that the game has become playable without the execution of the RAM clear process when the power recovery state at the time of power recovery becomes playable without the execution of the RAM clear process. Furthermore, in the case where the power recovery state at the time of power recovery becomes a game stop state, the normal presentation control means 220 reads presentation data for informing the player that the game has become stop and that the execution of the RAM clear process is required. Details of these notifications are omitted, but it is preferable that they are executed continuously for a certain period of time (for example, 30 seconds) after the execution is started, and the presentation device for executing the notification does not matter.

When an error command is transmitted, the sub-error control means 230 determines an error notification pattern, and reads out performance data for executing an error notification in accordance with the error notification pattern.
In addition, the error notification is executed in priority over the variable performance related to the pattern variation. Here, the error notification is executed in priority, which does not only mean that when the device related to the execution of the error notification and the device related to the execution of the variable performance are the same device, only the error notification is executed in the device (the execution of the variable performance is restricted by the execution of the error notification), but also includes the error notification being executed in a manner that is easier to recognize than the variable performance in the device.
In addition, the sub-error control means 230 may independently (independently of the main error control means 165) determine whether or not the gaming machine 10 is in an error state, and if it determines that the gaming machine 10 is in an error state, read out presentation data that executes an error notification.

The lamp control means 240 holds lamp control data for controlling the lighting of various lamps such as the frame lamp 35. For example, if the performance data read by the normal performance control means 220 contains performance data corresponding to a lamp, the lamp control means 240 reads out the lamp control data based on the performance data, and transmits the read lamp control data to the lamp to be executed.

When the performance data read by the normal performance control means 220 contains performance data corresponding to a movable role, the movable role control means 245 reads movement control data for controlling the movement of the movable ornament 22 and the sub-display unit 82 from the ROM 202 based on the performance data, transmits the read movement control data to the movable ornament 22 and the sub-display unit 82, and controls the movement of the movable ornament 22 and the sub-display unit 82.

As described above, the sub-information storage means 260 is a means for temporarily storing data read by the means provided in the first sub-control board 200, data derived by calculations in said means, etc., in the corresponding storage areas.

The customization control means 265 executes control related to the change of the contents of the collective customization and individual customization that affect the performance contents determined by the performance content determination means 225. Note that, as will be described in detail later, the control related to the change of the contents of these customizations is executed based on the operation of the cursor button 38, the performance button 37, and the movable decoration 22.

The sub-command management means 270 receives performance control commands transmitted from the main control board 100, and stores the received performance commands in a received command storage area of the sub-information storage means 260. Furthermore, if an image control command is stored in the transmission command storage area of the sub-information storage means 260, the sub-command management means 270 transmits the image control command to the second sub-control board 300. Furthermore, if a voice control command or a volume adjustment command is stored in the storage area, the sub-command management means 270 transmits these commands to the voice control board 310. Note that, as a general rule, these commands are transmitted in the order in which they are stored in the transmission command storage area of the sub-information storage means 260.

As explained above, the gaming machine 10 of this embodiment is configured so that the contents of the collective customization and individual customization that affect the presentation content during pattern change can be changed based on game operations (operations on the cursor button 38, the presentation button 37, and the movable decorative body 22), and executing these customizations makes it possible to realize presentation content that matches the player's preferences, thereby contributing to increased interest in the game.
Furthermore, in such gaming machines, the customization is configured to be initialized by a power outage and restoration (regardless of whether the RAM clear process has been executed) in consideration of convenience, such as the need to initialize the customization on the next business day. However, if such a function is provided, the customization will be initialized when a momentary power outage occurs during play (when the voltage supplied to the gaming machine temporarily drops and the power outage signal is output, resulting in the restoration of power), and there is a risk that a player who has been performing a game operation related to changing the content of the customization will play the game with unintended customization content, which may reduce the player's motivation to play.
In contrast, this embodiment has a function for solving such a problem.
The following describes this function and the invention related to this function in detail.

<Contents of bulk customization and individual customization>
First, the contents of the collective customization and the individual customization will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 13 and FIG.
Figure 13(a) is a table organizing the items that can be set in bulk customization for normal mode and their details, Figure 13(b) is a table organizing the items that can be set in bulk customization for challenge mode and their details, and Figure 13(c) is a table organizing the items that can be set in bulk customization for RUSH mode and their details.
FIG. 14 is a table summarizing the items that can be set in individual customization and their details.

As shown in Figures 13(a) to 13(c), in this embodiment, the items that can be set by collective customization differ in some of the presentation modes.
As shown in Figures 13(a) and 13(b), the items that can be set in the bulk customization for normal mode and challenge mode include normal, active, and simple, and the frequency with which the effects are executed (occurrence frequency) during pattern change changes depending on the item that is set.
More specifically, when normal is set as a standard, when active is set, the frequency of the effect in the pattern change increases, and when simple is set, the frequency of the effect in the pattern change decreases. Therefore, when normal is set as a standard, when active is set, the reliability of the effect in the pattern change decreases, and when simple is set, the reliability of the effect in the pattern change increases. Here, the reliability of the effect refers to the expectation that a big win game will occur in the pattern change corresponding to the effect when the effect is executed (the pattern change being executed if the effect is not a look-ahead effect, and the pattern change that the look-ahead effect is the target of the look-ahead effect if the effect is a look-ahead effect), that is, the expectation that a big win or a small win will be derived in the pattern change corresponding to the effect.
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 13C, the items that can be set in the collective customization related to the RUSH mode include normal and active, and the contents of these items are as described above.

As shown in Fig. 14, the items that can be set by individual customization include no pre-reading, instant notification UP, auto button, and 3D display, and each item can be set to either ON or OFF. Depending on the setting status of these items, the execution of the corresponding effects and the execution frequency change.
More specifically, when the no look-ahead item is ON, the look-ahead performance will not occur, and when the item is OFF, the look-ahead performance is allowed to be executed.
When the one-shot notification UP item is ON, the frequency (occurrence probability) of the one-shot notification effect is higher than when the one-shot notification UP item is OFF. Here, the one-shot notification effect is an effect in which a big win game is generated by the symbol change that executed the effect at the time of execution, that is, an effect in which it is determined that a big win or a small win will be derived by the symbol change.
When the Auto Button item is ON, the Auto Button is set, and in the Auto Button setting state, when an effect that requires operation of the effect button 37 is executed in the effect of the pattern change, the effect corresponding to the operation is executed without operating the operation unit.
When the 3D display item is ON, the target image of the 3D display is displayed as a 3D image, and when the item is OFF, the target image is displayed as a 2D image.

In this way, in this embodiment, the number of items that can be set in the special chart variation pattern derivation state PA for collective customization is different from the number of items that can be set in the special chart variation pattern derivation state PB and the special chart variation pattern derivation state PC. On the other hand, for individual customization, the content of customization (more specifically, the type of items related to individual customization) is the same regardless of which special chart variation pattern derivation state is in.
In addition, in this embodiment, the system is configured to be able to perform collective customization and individual customization both during non-play and during play. Here, "non-play" refers to a state in which neither the symbol variation, the big win game, nor the small win game is being performed, and "play" refers to a state other than the non-play state described above.

<About the process for changing content for bulk customization>
Next, the flow of content changes related to bulk customization will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a flow of content change related to bulk customization.

As shown in Figure 15, changes to the contents of bulk customization are realized by operating the left cursor button 38c and the right cursor button 38d, as well as the performance button 37 and the movable decorative body 22.
Specifically, as shown in the scene at the left end of the upper row of Fig. 15, in a state in which the contents of collective customization during non-play and play can be changed, an operation recommendation image ssg is displayed in the display area of the main display unit 81, which can specify that collective customization can be performed by operating the left cursor button 38c or the right cursor button 38d, and that individual customization can be performed by operating the up cursor button 38a or the down cursor button 38b. Here, the state in which the contents of collective customization during non-play and play can be changed refers to a period excluding a part of non-play and play, such as a period in which a high-importance error state is occurring or a period in which the above-mentioned development performance is being performed, and this also applies to individual customization described later.

As shown in the middle scene in the top row, when the right cursor button 38d is operated while the operation recommendation image ssg is displayed, a bulk customization image ikg is displayed that can identify the bulk customization item being set (which is the same as the item that was set immediately before the operation in this embodiment, and in this example, normal). As will be described later, when the performance button 37 is operated while the bulk customization image ikg is displayed, the item identified by the currently displayed bulk customization image ikg is determined to be the bulk customization item. Therefore, the bulk customization image ikg can be said to be an image that can identify items that can be set as bulk customization (setting candidates for bulk customization).
Although not shown in the drawings, even if the left cursor button 38c is operated in this state, the same collective customization image ikg is displayed.
In this embodiment, when the right cursor button 38d is operated to start displaying the collective customization image ikg (operation of the left cursor button 38c or the right cursor button 38d), a collective customization image ikg that identifies the item that was set immediately before the operation is displayed, but a collective customization image ikg that makes it possible to identify the item next to the item that was set immediately before the operation at that time may also be displayed. In other words, the item related to the collective customization may be switched by the operation.

When the right cursor button 38d is operated in the state shown in the middle scene at the top, the batch customization image ikg switches to a display mode in which the next item (active in this example) can be identified, as shown in the scene at the right end at the top.
When the right cursor button 38d is operated in the state shown in the scene at the top right, the collective customization image ikg switches to a display mode in which the next item can be identified (in this example, it is simple because it indicates that the current presentation mode is normal mode or challenge mode, but if the current presentation mode is RUSH mode, it will be normal), as shown in the scene at the bottom left.
When the right cursor button 38d is operated in the state shown in the scene at the left end of the lower row, the display mode of the batch customization image ikg switches to one in which the next item (in this example, normal) can be specified, as shown in the scene in the middle of the lower row.
When the effect button 37 is operated in the state shown in the middle scene in the lower row, the items specified by the collective customization image ikg that was displayed until just before are determined as collective customization items, and the collective customization image ikg is hidden as shown in the lower right scene in the lower row. The determined collective customization items are reflected at the timing when a new pattern change is started. Therefore, in the newly started pattern change, the effect contents are determined by referring to the determined collective customization items.
Furthermore, when the left cursor button 38c is operated in the state shown in the scene in the middle of the bottom row, the bulk customization image ikg switches to a display mode in which the front item (simple, in this example) can be identified. In this manner, when the left cursor button 38c is operated, the bulk customization items switch in the reverse order to when the right cursor button 38d is operated.

In this manner, in this embodiment, whether or not playing, the left cursor button 38c and the right cursor button 38d, as well as the effect button 37, are used to change the content related to the bulk customization, and a bulk customization image ikg is displayed which makes it possible to specify the bulk customization that is being set (reflected) or the bulk customization of setting candidates (decided candidates).
This makes it possible to change the content related to the bulk customization both while playing and while not playing, and allows the player to recognize the customization status of the bulk customization (items related to the bulk customization being set).

In addition, in this embodiment, the collective customization image ikg becomes invisible when a certain time (5000 ms in this embodiment) has elapsed since the most recent operation related to changing the contents of collective customization (operation of the left cursor button 38c or the right cursor button 38d). In this case, the items specified by the collective customization image ikg that were displayed immediately before are not determined as collective customization items.
Furthermore, in this embodiment, when an operation is performed on the movable decoration 22 while the collective customization image ikg is displayed (while the contents of the collective customization are being changed), the collective customization image ikg is hidden and the change in the contents of the collective customization is terminated. In this case, a default item (in this embodiment, normal, which is constant regardless of the type of the current special chart variation pattern derivation state) is set as the item of the collective customization. In other words, an operation on the movable decoration 22 while the collective customization image ikg is displayed functions as an operation for initializing the collective customization.
In this embodiment, the collective customization is initialized when the power is turned off and then restored (regardless of whether the RAM clear process has been performed or not). This also applies to the individual customization described later.

<Process for changing content for individual customization>
Next, the flow of content changes relating to individual customization will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a flow of content change related to individual customization.

As shown in Figure 16, individual customization is achieved by operating the up cursor button 38a or the down cursor button 38b, as well as the middle cursor button 38e, the performance button 37, and the movable decorative body 22.
Specifically, as shown in the scene at the top left of Figure 16, when the content of individual customization can be changed both when not playing and when playing, an operation recommendation image ssg is displayed in the display area related to the main display unit 81, as in the scene at the top right of Figure 15.

As shown in the scene in the middle of the top row of Figure 16, when the down cursor button 38b is operated while the operation recommendation image ssg is displayed, an individual customization image kkg is displayed that can identify the ON/OFF setting status of each item related to individual customization (in this embodiment, this is the same as the setting that was set immediately before the operation, and in this example, all items are OFF) and the predetermined first selection item (the item shown in a shaded area, and in this example, no pre-reading).
Although not shown in the drawings, even if the up cursor button 38a is operated in this state, the same individual customized image kkg is displayed.
Furthermore, the individual customized image kkg includes the text "*Switch with middle button" which indicates that the selected item can be switched between ON and OFF by operating the middle cursor button 38e.

When the down cursor button 38b is operated in the state shown in the middle scene in the upper row, the individual customized image kkg switches to a state in which the next item (in this example, Instant Announcement UP) is selected, as shown in the scene at the far right of the upper row.
When the down cursor button 38b is operated in the state shown in the scene at the top right, the individual customized image kkg switches to a state in which the next item (in this example, the auto button) is selected, as shown in the scene at the bottom left.
Although not shown in the figure, when the up cursor button 38a is operated in the state shown in the scene at the top right, the individual customized image kkg switches to a state in which the previous item (in this example, no pre-reading) is selected.

When the middle cursor button 38e is operated in the state shown in the scene at the far left of the lower row, as shown in the scene in the middle of the lower row, the ON/OFF of the selected item for the individual customized image kkg is switched (in this example, the AUTO button item is switched from OFF to ON), and the text "※Press middle button to switch" included in the individual customized image kkg is changed to the text "※Press PUSH button to confirm."
The words "Determine with *PUSH BUTTON" indicate that the current ON/OFF selection status of each item will be determined as a result of this individual customization by operating the effect button 37.

When the effect button 37 is operated in the state shown in the middle scene at the bottom, as shown in the scene at the right end of the bottom row, the individual customization image kkg is hidden, and the selection status of each item related to ON/OFF at the time of the operation (in this example, the AUTO button item is ON and the other items are OFF, as shown in the middle scene at the bottom row) is determined as a result of the change in content related to this individual customization. Note that the selection status related to ON/OFF of each item of the determined individual customization is reflected at the timing when a new pattern change is started. Therefore, in the newly started pattern change, the effect content is determined by referring to the selection status related to ON/OFF of each item of the determined individual customization.

In this way, in this embodiment, whether or not a game is being played, individual customization is realized by operating the up cursor button 38a or the down cursor button 38b, as well as the middle cursor button 38e and the performance button 37, and by operating the up cursor button 38a or the down cursor button 38b, an individual customization image kkg is displayed that can identify the status of the individual customization being set or selected.
This allows the player to change the content related to individual customization both when not playing and while playing, and also allows the player to recognize the customization status of individual customization (the ON/OFF status of items related to individual customization that are being set or selected).
In this embodiment, the individual customization image kkg is hidden when a certain time (10,000 ms, which is shorter than the same time for collective customization) has elapsed since the most recent operation related to individual customization (operation of the up cursor button 38a, the down cursor button 38b, or the middle cursor button 38e) even if the performance button 37 is not operated. In this case, the ON/OFF setting status of each item related to individual customization does not change.
Furthermore, in this embodiment, when an operation is performed on the movable ornament 22 while the individual customization image kkg is displayed (while the content of the individual customization is being changed), the individual customization image kkg is hidden and the change in the content of the individual customization ends, similar to when the collective customization image ikg is displayed. In this case, the ON/OFF setting status for each item related to the individual customization is set to the default. In other words, the operation on the movable ornament 22 while the individual customization image kkg is displayed functions as an operation for initializing the individual customization.

<Regarding the timing of enabling game operations related to bulk customization changes during momentary stop during losing fluctuation>
Next, with reference to Figures 17 and 18, the timing at which the game operation related to the change of the contents of the collective customization becomes effective when there is a momentary stop during a miss fluctuation will be described in detail.
FIG. 17 is a timing chart showing the flow from when a momentary interruption occurs during a losing variation to when a gaming operation related to a change in the contents of a bulk customization becomes effective.
FIG. 18 is a timing chart showing the flow from when a momentary power outage occurs during non-play to when a gaming operation related to changing the contents of collective customization becomes effective.
In addition, a miss variation refers to a pattern variation in which a favorable result such as a big hit or a small hit is not derived based on the special pattern hit/miss judgment.

As shown in Fig. 17, if a momentary power outage (power restoration without execution of RAM clear processing) occurs during a losing variation, the pattern variation (losing variation) where the momentary power outage occurred is restored, and the pattern variation where the momentary power outage occurred is in a recovery state during the execution of the pattern variation where the momentary power outage occurred. Here, the recovery state is a preparation state for restoring (starting) the display of game images (images displayed on the main display unit 81 as the game progresses, such as a pattern row related to decorative patterns, reserved images, and background images displayed behind these images), and in the recovery state according to this embodiment, a character such as "Recovering" is displayed in the display area related to the main display unit 81 (not shown), but in the recovery state, images may not be displayed on the main display unit 81.
Then, when the returned pattern change ends, the return state ends, the display of the game image returns, and the game operation related to changing the contents of the collective customization (sometimes simply referred to as the "game operation related to collective customization") becomes effective.
In addition, if a momentary power outage occurs during a losing fluctuation, when the recovery state ends and the display of the game image returns, the game operation related to changing the content of the individual customization (which may also be simply referred to as "game operation related to individual customization") will become effective.
In addition, in FIG. 17, an example is given in which a new pattern change does not start following the end of a returned losing variation (when there was no pending pattern change at the time of the momentary interruption), but a case in which a new pattern change starts following the end of a returned losing variation (when there was a pending pattern change at the time of the momentary interruption) will be described later using FIG. 20 and FIG. 21.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 18, if a momentary power outage occurs during non-play, the display of the game image returns (starts) without entering a recovery state, and the game operation related to changing the contents of the bulk customization becomes effective when time T1 (5000 ms in this embodiment) has elapsed since the recovery of the game image.
In addition, if a momentary power outage occurs while not playing, the game operation related to changing the content of individual customization will become effective at the time when the game image returns.
In addition, if a momentary power outage occurs while not playing, during the period from when the display of the game image is restored until time T1 has elapsed, the words "Customization has been initialized" are displayed in display area 812 of the display area related to the main display unit 81, in parallel with the game image (the row of symbols related to decorative symbols displayed in display area 811 of the display area related to the main display unit 81).

In this manner, in this embodiment, assuming that the contents of the bulk customization are initialized when a power outage is restored, the timing at which game operations related to changing the contents of the bulk customization become effective when a momentary power outage occurs during a miss fluctuation (a state in which it is highly likely that the contents related to customization, including bulk customization, were not being changed) is different from the timing at which game operations related to changing the contents of the bulk customization become effective when a momentary power outage occurs while not playing (a state in which it is highly likely that the contents related to customization, including bulk customization, were being changed).
This makes it possible for a player who is performing a game operation related to changing the contents of the bulk customization to easily recognize that a momentary interruption has occurred which involves the initialization of the bulk customization.
In order to achieve this effect, the timing at which the gaming operation related to changing the content of the bulk customization becomes effective does not necessarily have to be different between when a momentary interruption occurs during a losing fluctuation and when a momentary interruption occurs while not playing; it is sufficient that the timing is different when comparing some of these cases.
Furthermore, the difference in timing in these cases is a comparison between the same game state (special chart variation pattern derivation state), and this also applies to the following explanations.

Thus, the gaming machine 10 is configured such that the contents of the customization (bulk customization) can be changed during non-play when neither the pattern change nor the winning game is being performed, and when the power is turned on without executing a RAM clear process, the contents of the customization are initialized, and when a power interruption occurs during the execution of the pattern change and the power is turned on thereafter without executing a RAM clear process, the pattern change is restored, and when a power interruption occurs during the execution of the pattern change and the power is turned on thereafter with the execution of a RAM clear process, the pattern change is not restored, and the gaming machine 10 is provided with an image display means (main display unit 81) and a display control means (first sub-control board 200, second sub-control board 300) that controls the image display means, and the display control means is capable of displaying an image related to the change in the contents of the customization, and when the result of the win/loss judgment is a loss, the contents of the customization are initialized, and when the power interruption occurs during the execution of the pattern change and the power is turned on thereafter with the execution of a RAM clear process, the pattern change is restored, and when the power interruption occurs during the execution of the pattern change and the power is turned on thereafter with the execution of a RAM clear process, the pattern change is restored, and the gaming machine 10 is provided with an image display means (main display unit 81) and a display control means (first sub-control board 200, second sub-control board 300) that controls the image display means, and the display control means is capable of displaying an image related to the change in the contents of the customization, and when the result of the win/loss judgment is a loss, the contents of the customization are initialized ... In the first case, when a power interruption occurs during execution and the power is then turned on without executing a RAM clear process, the image display means enters a return state in which it is possible to identify that the image display is returning until the pattern change ends, and then the return state ends and the display of the game image is restored based on the end of the pattern change. In the second case, when a power interruption occurs during non-play and the power is then turned on without executing a RAM clear process, the image display means does not enter a return state and the display of the game image is restored. In other words, in the second case, the game operation related to the change in the customization content (operations on the left cursor button 38c, right cursor button 38d, performance button 37, and movable decoration 22) can become effective at a different timing from the first case, based on the timing of the power-on without executing a RAM clear process.

In particular, in this embodiment, the timing at which the display of the game image is restored is used as a reference, and the timing at which the game operation related to changing the content of the collective customization becomes effective when a momentary power outage occurs during non-play is later (after the passage of time T1) than the timing at which the game operation related to changing the content of the collective customization becomes effective when a momentary power outage occurs during a losing fluctuation.
This makes it easier for a player who has been performing game operations related to a change in the content of the bulk customization to recognize the timing when the game operations related to the change in the content of the bulk customization will become effective, thereby enhancing the effect of making the player more aware that a momentary power outage has occurred, which involves the initialization of the bulk customization.
In order to achieve this effect, the timing at which the game operation related to changing the content of the bulk customization becomes effective does not necessarily have to be different between when a momentary interruption occurs during a losing fluctuation and when a momentary interruption occurs during a non-play period, based on the timing at which the display of the game image returns; it is sufficient that the timing is different when comparing some of these cases.

Therefore, the gaming machine 10 is configured to be able to change the contents of the customization (bulk customization) during non-play when neither the pattern change nor the winning game is being performed, and when the power is turned on without executing the RAM clear process, the contents of the customization are initialized, and when a power interruption occurs during the execution of the pattern change and the power is turned on thereafter without executing the RAM clear process, the pattern change is restored, and when a power interruption occurs during the execution of the pattern change and the power is turned on thereafter with the execution of the RAM clear process, the pattern change is not restored, and the gaming machine 10 is provided with an image display means (main display unit 81) and a display control means (first sub-control board 200, second sub-control board 300) that controls the image display means, and the display control means is capable of displaying an image related to the change in the contents of the customization, and when the result of the win/lose judgment is a loss, In the first case, when a power interruption occurs during the execution of a certain pattern change and the power is then turned on without executing a RAM clear process, the image display means enters a return state in which it is possible to identify that the image display is being restored until the end of the pattern change, and then the return state ends based on the end of the pattern change, and the display of the game image is restored; in the second case, when a power interruption occurs during non-play and the power is then turned on without executing a RAM clear process, the image display means does not enter a return state and the display of the game image is restored; in other words, in the second case, based on the timing at which the display of the game image is restored, the game operation related to the change in the customization content (operations on the left cursor button 38c, right cursor button 38d, performance button 37, and movable decorative body 22) can become effective at a timing later than the first case described above.

In particular, in this embodiment, as described above, if a momentary power outage occurs while not playing, during the period from the occurrence of the momentary power outage until the elapse of time T1, the words "*Customization has been initialized" are displayed in parallel with the game image in the display area related to the main display unit 81.
According to this, by making the player aware that customization including collective customization has been initialized before making the player aware that a momentary power outage has occurred, it is possible to emphasize that the initialization has been performed. This contributes to realizing accurate (in line with the player's intention) changes to the contents of collective customization thereafter.
In order to achieve this effect, it is not limited to displaying an image indicating that the customization has been initialized as in this embodiment during the period from the occurrence of a momentary power outage during non-play until the lapse of time T1. In other words, during this period, the display area of the main display unit 81 may be in a display mode that allows the player to recognize that the collective customization has been initialized.

Therefore, in other words, in the gaming machine 10, the display control means (first sub-control board 200, second sub-control board 300) further controls the image display means (main display unit 81) so that it is at least possible to determine whether the content of the customization has been changed from the initial state during the period from when the display of the game image at the second time is restored to when the game operation related to the change of the customization content (operations on the left cursor button 38c, right cursor button 38d, performance button 37, and movable decorative body 22) becomes effective.

In addition, in this embodiment, the timing at which the game operation related to changing the content of the collective customization becomes effective when a momentary interruption occurs during a losing fluctuation is based on the timing at which the display of the game image returns, and the timing at which the game operation related to changing the content of the individual customization becomes effective in that case are the same.
Furthermore, in this embodiment, the timing at which the display of the game image returns is used as a reference, and the timing at which the game operation related to changing the content of the collective customization becomes effective when a momentary power outage occurs during non-play is set to a timing after the timing at which the game operation related to changing the content of the individual customization becomes effective in that case.
According to this, for the former of the bulk customization and individual customization, it is possible to make it easier for a player who has been performing game operations related to a change in the content of the bulk customization to recognize the timing when the game operations related to the change in the content of the bulk customization will become effective, thereby enhancing the effect of making the player more easily aware that a momentary power outage has occurred accompanied by the initialization of the bulk customization.

<Display mode of operation recommendation image>
Next, the display mode of the operation recommendation image ssg will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
19(a) and 19(b) are diagrams showing specific examples of the display form of the operation recommendation image ssg.
As described above, the operation recommendation image ssg is an image that can identify that bulk customization can be performed by operating the left cursor button 38c or the right cursor button 38d, and that individual customization can be performed by operating the up cursor button 38a or the down cursor button 38b.
In particular, in this embodiment, the operation recommendation image ssg is displayed in at least a part of a state in which a gaming operation related to each customization content change is valid. Therefore, it can be said that the image is an image that can specify that the gaming operation is valid.

First, if a momentary power outage (power restoration without execution of RAM clear processing) occurs during a losing fluctuation, the operation recommendation image ssg displayed thereafter will be the image shown in FIG. 19(a) (normal operation recommendation image ssg1), and this normal operation recommendation image ssg1 will start to be displayed when the display of the game image returns (when the game operation related to the change in the contents of the bulk customization becomes effective).

On the other hand, if a momentary power outage occurs while not playing, the operation recommendation image ssg displayed thereafter will be the image shown in FIG. 19(b) (special operation recommendation image ssg2), and this special operation recommendation image ssg2 will begin to be displayed when a time T1 has elapsed (the game operation related to the change in the content of the collective customization becomes effective) after the display of the game image returns (the game operation related to the change in the content of the individual customization becomes effective).

In this manner, in this embodiment, in both cases where a momentary power outage occurs during a losing fluctuation and where a momentary power outage occurs while not playing, the display of the operation recommendation image ssg begins at the timing when the gaming operation related to the change in the contents of the bulk customization becomes effective, but the display manner of the operation recommendation image ssg differs between these cases.
This makes it possible to prompt a player who has been performing a game operation related to changing the content of the collective customization to change the content of the collective customization.
In order to achieve this effect, if a momentary power outage occurs while not playing, and the normal operation recommended image ssg1 is not displayed at the time when the gaming operation related to the change in the content of the collective customization becomes effective, then if a momentary power outage occurs during a losing fluctuation, the special operation recommended image ssg2 may be displayed at the time when the gaming operation related to the change in the content of the collective customization becomes effective.
In this embodiment, the special operation recommended image ssg2 is larger than the normal operation recommended image ssg1 (the image has a larger display area), but the present invention is not limited to this and may have a difference that allows the image to be visually recognized as different. However, as in this embodiment, it is preferable that the special operation recommended image ssg2 is an image that is easier for the player to recognize than the normal operation recommended image ssg1.

Therefore, in the gaming machine 10, it is possible to display a predetermined image (operation recommendation image ssg) that can identify that a gaming operation related to a change in the content of the customization (bulk customization) (operations on the left cursor button 38c, right cursor button 38d, performance button 37, and movable ornament 22) is valid, and the predetermined image is displayed both when the gaming operation related to the change in the content of the customization becomes valid at the first time and when the gaming operation related to the change in the content of the customization becomes valid at the second time, and the display mode of the predetermined image includes a first display mode (normal operation recommendation image ssg1) and a second display mode (special operation recommendation image ssg2), and the predetermined image related to the first time can be the first display mode, and the predetermined image related to the second time does not become the first display mode but becomes the second display mode.

Also, although not shown in the figures, in this embodiment, when a new pattern change is started while the special operation recommended image ssg2 is being displayed, the display of the special operation recommended image ssg is terminated and the normal operation recommended image ssg1 is displayed.
According to this, while the special operation recommended image ssg2 is displayed, it is possible to progress the game while the special operation recommended image ssg2 is being displayed without giving a sense of incongruity.

In other words, the gaming machine 10 is configured so that the content of the customization (bulk customization) can be changed while the pattern change is in progress, and when a new pattern change is started while a predetermined image (special operation recommended image ssg2) related to the second display mode is being displayed, the display of the predetermined image ends and the display of a predetermined image (normal operation recommended image ssg1) related to the first display mode begins.

<Regarding the timing of game operations related to bulk customization changes depending on the number of reserved games at the time of momentary interruption>
Next, using Figures 20 and 21, we will explain in detail how the timing of activation of game operations related to changing the contents of bulk customization at the time of a momentary power outage changes depending on the number of reserved games at the time of a momentary power outage.
Figure 20 is a timing chart showing the flow from when a momentary interruption occurs during a losing fluctuation with three or more reserved symbols, and when the losing fluctuation ends and is restored, a new pattern fluctuation begins immediately after the momentary interruption occurs to when a game operation related to changing the contents of the bulk customization becomes effective.
Figure 21 is a timing chart showing the flow from the time a momentary interruption occurs during a losing variation with less than 3 reserved symbols to the time when a new pattern variation begins following the end of the losing variation that has been restored.

As shown in Figure 20, if a momentary power outage (power restoration without execution of RAM clear processing) occurs during a missing variation with three or more pending numbers and a new pattern variation begins immediately following the end of the missing variation that has been restored, the pattern variation (missing variation) where the momentary power outage occurred will be restored, and the recovery state will be reached during the execution of the pattern variation where the momentary power outage occurred.
When the returned symbol variation ends, the next reserved symbol variation starts, the return state ends, and the display of the game image returns. At this time, the game operation related to the change of the contents of the collective customization becomes effective in accordance with the return timing of the game image.
In addition, if a momentary interruption occurs during a losing fluctuation with three or more reserved numbers, when the recovery state ends and the display of the game image returns, the game operation related to changing the content of the individual customization will also become effective.
In addition, including the following explanation, the reserved number refers to the number of reserved pattern changes corresponding to the current special pattern change pattern derivation state (if the special pattern change pattern derivation state is for a normal pattern with low probability, it is the pattern change related to the first starting port 57, and if the special pattern change pattern derivation state is for a normal pattern with high probability, it is the pattern change related to the second starting port 59).

Next, as shown in FIG. 21, if a momentary interruption occurs during a missing fluctuation with less than 3 pending numbers and the missing fluctuation is restored and a new pattern fluctuation starts immediately following the end of the missing fluctuation, the pattern fluctuation (missing fluctuation) where the momentary interruption occurred will be restored and the recovery state will be reached during the execution of the pattern fluctuation where the momentary interruption occurred.
Then, when the returned symbol variation ends, the next reserved symbol variation starts, the return state ends, and the display of the game image returns. At this time, the game operation related to the change of the contents of the collective customization becomes effective at the timing when the time T2 (in this embodiment, 2000 ms) has elapsed from the return timing of the game image.
In addition, if a momentary power outage occurs during a losing fluctuation in which the number of reserved balls is less than three, the game operation related to changing the content of individual customization will become effective when the recovery state ends and the display of the game image returns.

In this way, in this embodiment, when a momentary interruption occurs during a losing fluctuation and a new pattern fluctuation starts following the end of the losing fluctuation that has been restored, the timing at which the game operation related to the change in the contents of the collective customization becomes effective based on the timing at which the display of the game image returns differs depending on the number of reserved items at the time of the momentary interruption. More specifically, when the number of reserved items at the time of the momentary interruption is less than 3 (a state in which it is highly likely that a game operation related to the change in the contents of the collective customization was about to be performed), the timing at which the game operation related to the change in the contents of the collective customization becomes effective is later than when the number of reserved items at the time of the momentary interruption is 3 or more (a state in which it is highly likely that a game operation related to the change in the contents of the collective customization was not about to be performed).
This makes it easier for a player who is about to perform a gaming operation related to a change in the content of the bulk customization to recognize the timing when the gaming operation related to the change in the content of the bulk customization will become effective, and makes it easier for the player to recognize that a momentary interruption has occurred accompanied by the initialization of the bulk customization.
In addition, in order to achieve this effect, the threshold value of the reserved number (in this embodiment, 3) may be any value as long as it is less than the maximum reserved number of pattern variations corresponding to the current special pattern variation pattern derivation state (in this embodiment, 4).

Therefore, in other words, the gaming machine 10 is configured to be able to put on hold the execution of the pattern change until the change start condition is satisfied, and when the number of reserved pattern changes when the power outage related to the first time occurs is less than a predetermined number (3), the gaming operations related to changing the contents of the customization (bulk customization) (operations on the left cursor button 38c, right cursor button 38d, performance button 37, and movable decorative body 22) can be enabled at a later timing than when the number of reserved pattern changes when the power outage related to the first time occurs is equal to or greater than the predetermined number, based on the timing when the display of the game image returns.

<Regarding the timing of enabling game operations related to the change of bulk customization contents during momentary stop during winning fluctuation>
Next, using Figure 22, the timing at which game operations related to changing the contents of bulk customization become effective when there is a momentary stop during winning fluctuation will be described in detail.
FIG. 22 is a timing chart showing the flow from when a momentary interruption occurs during winning fluctuation to when a gaming operation related to changing the contents of bulk customization becomes effective.
In addition, a winning change refers to a pattern change that leads to a favorable result such as a big win or a small win based on a special pattern hit/miss judgment.

As shown in Figure 22, if a momentary power outage (power restoration without execution of RAM clear processing) occurs during a winning variation, the pattern variation (winning variation) that occurred during the momentary power outage will be restored, and the recovery state will be maintained during the execution of the pattern variation that occurred during the momentary power outage.
Then, when the returned pattern change ends, the return state ends and the display of the game image returns (in this example, an image indicating that a winning game corresponding to the winning derived by the winning change has started), and when time T3 (in this embodiment, 10,000 ms, which is longer than time T1) has elapsed since the return of the game image (as shown in the figure, this time is during the winning game), the game operation related to changing the contents of the bulk customization becomes effective.
In addition, if a momentary power outage occurs during a winning fluctuation, the game operation related to changing the content of the individual customization will become effective at the time when the game image returns.

In this manner, in this embodiment, the timing at which the display of the game image is restored is used as a reference, and the timing at which the game operation related to changing the content of the collective customization becomes effective when a momentary interruption occurs during a winning fluctuation is later (after the passage of time T3) than the timing at which the game operation related to changing the content of the collective customization becomes effective when a momentary interruption occurs during a losing fluctuation.
This makes it possible to encourage more careful bulk customization in the event of a momentary power outage caused by a hit fluctuation.
In order to achieve this effect, the timing at which the game operation related to changing the content of the bulk customization becomes effective does not necessarily have to be different between when a momentary interruption occurs during a winning fluctuation and when a momentary interruption occurs during a losing fluctuation, based on the timing at which the display of the game image returns; it is sufficient that the timing is different when comparing some of these cases.

Therefore, in the gaming machine 10, the content of the customization (bulk customization) can be changed during a winning game, and the display control means (first sub-control board 200, second sub-control board 300) is configured such that in the third case where a power outage occurs during the execution of a pattern change that results in a specific result (big win, small win) from the result of the win/loss determination and the power is then turned on without executing a RAM clear process, the image display means is in a recovery state until the pattern change ends, and then the recovery state ends based on the end of the pattern change and the display of the game image is restored, and in the third case, the game operation related to the change in the customization content can be made effective at a timing later than the first case, based on the timing at which the display of the game image is restored.

In particular, in this embodiment, time T3 is longer than time T1, which has the aforementioned effect of encouraging more careful bulk customization in the event of a momentary power outage caused by hit fluctuations.

<Regarding the timing of enabling game operations related to changes to the contents of bulk customization when a power outage and recovery accompanied by the execution of a RAM clear process occurs>
Next, using Figure 23, the timing at which game operations related to changing the contents of bulk customization become effective when a power outage and restoration accompanied by execution of a RAM clear process occurs will be described in detail.
FIG. 23 is a timing chart showing the flow from when a power outage and restoration accompanied by execution of a RAM clear process occurs to when a gaming operation related to a change in the contents of bulk customization becomes effective.

23, when a power outage occurs accompanied by the execution of a RAM clear process, a RAM clear notification is started, which allows the user to identify that a RAM clear process was executed when the power outage occurred, and a game image is started to be displayed. The RAM clear notification continues for a certain period of time (15,000 ms in this embodiment, which is longer than the period T1).
Then, at the timing when the RAM clear notification ends, the game operation related to the change of the contents of the collective customization becomes valid, and the game image continues to be displayed thereafter.
In addition, in the event of a power outage and restoration accompanied by the execution of a RAM clear process, game operations related to changing the content of individual customization become effective at the time when the execution of the RAM clear notification is completed, i.e., at the same time as game operations related to changing the content of bulk customization.

In this embodiment, when a power outage occurs accompanied by the execution of a RAM clear process, the game operation for changing the contents of the collective customization becomes effective when the RAM clear notification that continues for a certain period of time from the power-on related to the power outage and power recovery ends, based on the timing when the display of the game image returns. Therefore, the timing when the game operation for changing the contents of the collective customization becomes effective is later than the timing when a momentary power outage occurs during non-play (the timing when the time T1 has elapsed since the momentary power outage).
This makes it easy for the player to recognize that a RAM clear process involving initialization of bulk customization has been carried out, and then allows the player to accurately change the contents of the bulk customization (in line with the player's intentions).

Therefore, in the gaming machine 10, when the power is turned on with the execution of a RAM clear process, the contents of the customization (bulk customization) are initialized, and the display control means (first sub-control board 200, second sub-control board 300) restores the display of the game image without the image display means (main display unit 81) returning to a restored state at the specific time when the power is turned on with the execution of a RAM clear process, and at the specific time, a specific notification (RAM clear notification) is executed, and at the specific time, the game operation related to the change in the content of the customization becomes effective based on the end of the specific notification, so that the game operation related to the change in the content of the customization (operations on the left cursor button 38c, right cursor button 38d, performance button 37, and movable decoration 22) can become effective at a later timing than the second time based on the timing at which the display of the game image returns.

<Other Modifications>
Modifications not mentioned in the above description are listed below.

First, among the above-mentioned inventions, for those that are unrelated to the possibility of deciding on a content change related to each customization, the content change related to the change may be decided at the time when the item is changed.
In addition, in this embodiment, the timing for reflecting the content change related to each determined customization is the start timing of the new pattern change, but it is not limited to this, and may be the end timing of the pattern change immediately after the content change is determined, or a combination of these (the earlier timing of these). Furthermore, the content change related to each customization may be reflected at the time the content change is determined.

In addition, in the special chart variation pattern derivation state PA, a base value, which is the ratio of the out balls to the out balls, may be derived using out balls, which are the number of game balls used (the number of game balls detected by the out ball detection sensor 75), and safe balls, which are the number of prize balls (the number of prize balls awarded upon detection of game balls by the detection sensor associated with each winning port).
In addition, a performance display monitor may be provided on the gaming machine 10 in a position visible from the rear side of the gaming machine (for example, on the board of the main control board 100), and the above-mentioned base value may be displayed on the display monitor.
Furthermore, the above-mentioned base value may be derived over a number of consecutive derivation periods (a period including the present, or a number of past periods), and the base values derived for each of the multiple derivation periods may be displayed on the performance display monitor by switching between them in sequence with an interval period between them.

In addition, when each of the above-mentioned error states (an error state of high importance, an error state of low importance) is set, an error code capable of identifying the set error state may be displayed on the performance display monitor.
When the error code is displayed, the base value may not be displayed, or the error code and the base value may be displayed alternately.
Furthermore, the error states displayed in the error codes on the performance display monitor may be limited to the above-mentioned error states with high importance.

In addition, the gaming machine 10 according to this embodiment is a so-called one-type two-type mixed machine that can derive both a big win and a small win that can generate a big win game in the special pattern hit/miss judgment, but it is not limited to this, and it is also possible to use one that can only derive a so-called two-type hit.

In addition, in each special chart variation pattern derivation state, the special chart variation pattern may be determined using the special chart variation pattern lottery table shown in Figures 9 to 11, or the special chart variation pattern may be determined using another special chart variation pattern lottery table, or the special chart variation pattern may be determined without using the special chart variation pattern lottery table (without performing a lottery). However, in each special chart variation pattern derivation state, it is preferable that the special chart variation pattern is determined using the special chart variation pattern lottery table shown in Figures 9 to 11 for more than half of the period during which the special chart variation pattern derivation state continues.

In addition, in the present embodiment, as long as the relationship between the probability, ratio, frequency, and number of times is ensured, the smaller value may be 0, and the larger value may be the maximum value. In particular, as long as the phenomenon aspect is ensured, the control for realizing the high and low of each ratio described above does not matter.
Furthermore, each lottery value in the lottery table illustrated in this embodiment is just an example, and as long as the magnitude relationship between the lottery tables is maintained, each lottery value may adopt any value within the range.

In addition, in the above explanation, the power recovery state when power is restored is determined by referring to the state of the RAM clear switch 43 when power is restored, but it is also possible to refer to whether the time that the RAM clear switch 43 has been ON since power was restored exceeds a specified time (e.g., 3 seconds). In this way, the occurrence of erroneous RAM clear processing can be further reduced.

In addition, in the above explanation, the state of the middle frame open door sensor 76 (open/closed state of the middle frame 17) was referenced when determining the power restoration state when power was restored, but the power restoration state may be set without reference to that state. In this case, the power restoration state when power was restored may be set uniformly according to the case when the middle frame open door sensor 76 is ON (the middle frame 17 is open).

The present invention described above is not limited to the above description, but includes various modifications, improvements, and other aspects as long as the object of the present invention is achieved.

<Additional Notes>
The present embodiment encompasses the following technical idea.
(1)
A gaming machine capable of executing a pattern change accompanied by a winning/losing judgment, and capable of executing a winning game after the winning/losing judgment is performed and a specific result is derived in the winning/losing judgment,
The game device is configured to be able to customize game effects,
The content of the customization is changeable based on a game operation,
The content of the customization is changeable during a non-play period when neither the symbol variation nor the winning game is being executed,
When the power is turned on without executing the RAM clear process, the contents of the customization are initialized,
When a power outage occurs during the pattern change and the power is turned on without executing the RAM clear process, the pattern change is restored.
If a power outage occurs during the pattern change and then the power is turned on with the execution of a RAM clear process, the pattern change will not return,
Image display means;
A display control means for controlling the image display means;
Equipped with
The display control means
It is possible to display an image related to the change in the content of the customization,
In the first case where a power interruption occurs during the execution of a pattern variation in which the result of the win/loss judgment is a loss and the power is then turned on without executing a RAM clear process, the image display means is in a recovery state in which it can be specified that the image display is being restored until the end of the pattern variation, and then the recovery state ends based on the end of the pattern variation, and the display of the game image is restored;
In a second case where a power interruption occurs during the non-play state and then the power is turned on without executing a RAM clear process, the image display means does not enter the restored state and returns to displaying the game image;
At the second time, a game operation related to the change in the content of the customization may be enabled at a timing later than the first time based on a timing at which the display of the game image is restored;
The content of the customization is configured to be changeable during the execution of the pattern variation,
When a new pattern variation is started during a period from when the display of the game image related to the second time is restored to when the game operation related to the change in the content of the customization is enabled, the game operation related to the change in the content of the customization may be enabled based on the start of the pattern variation.
A gaming machine characterized by:
(2)
The gaming machine according to (1) above,
When the power is turned on with the RAM clear process being executed, the contents of the customization are initialized,
the display control means, when a power-on is performed accompanied by the execution of a RAM clear process, causes the image display means to return to the display of the game image without entering the return state;
At the specific time, a specific notification is executed,
At the specific time, a game operation related to the change in the content of the customization is enabled based on the end of the specific notification, so that the game operation related to the change in the content of the customization may be enabled at a timing later than the second time based on the timing at which the display of the game image is restored.
A gaming machine characterized by:

10 Gaming machine 15 Outer frame 17 Middle frame 20 Front frame 21 Hinge mechanism 22 Movable decorative body 23 Cylinder lock 25 Transparent member 27 Upper ball tray 29 Lower ball tray 30 Lower discharge port 31 Operation handle 32 Upper frame portion 33 (33a, 33b) Speaker 34a, 34b Left and right side frame portions 35 (35a, 35b, 35c) Frame lamp 36 Ball ejection mechanism 37 Performance button 38 Cursor button 38a Up cursor button 38b Down cursor button 38c Left cursor button 38d Right cursor button 38e Center cursor button 39 Main operation portion 39a Ball loan button 39b Return button 40 Power switch 43 RAM clear switch 45 Opening and closing cover 46 Game ball tank 47 Tank rail 48 Payout unit 49 Payout passage 50 Game board 50a Game area 51 Outer rail 52 Windmill 53, inner rail 55, large prize opening 57, first start opening 59, second start opening 61, normal electric role 62, normal electric role solenoid 63, gate 65, special electric role 66, special electric role solenoid 67, general prize opening 69, out opening 70, first start opening sensor 71, second start opening sensor 72, large prize opening sensor 73, general prize opening sensor 74, gate sensor 75, out ball sensor 76, middle frame door open sensor 77, front frame door open sensor 80, performance display device 81, main display section 82, sub-display section 82a, upper sub-display section 82b, left sub-display section 82c, right sub-display section 90, pattern display device 91, first special pattern display device 92, second special pattern display device 93, normal pattern display device 94, first special pattern hold lamp 95, second special pattern hold lamp 96, normal pattern hold lamp 100, main control board 101, CPU
102 ROM
103 RAM
104 I/O port 105 Random number circuit 109 Main control board case 110 Ball entry determination means 115 Main random number generation means 120 Main hold control means 125 Advance determination means 130 Special chart lottery means 131 Special chart win/loss determination means 132 Special chart stop pattern lottery means 133 Special chart change pattern derivation means 135 Regular chart lottery means 140 Big win game control means 145 Pattern display control means 150 Electric role control means 155 Game state control means 160 Main information storage means 165 Main error control means 170 Main command management means 175 Power restoration process execution means 176 Power restoration state setting means 179 Playable state transition means 180 Power interruption process execution means 200 First sub-control board 201 CPU
202 ROM
203 RAM
204 I/O port 209 First sub-control board case 210 Sub random number generation means 220 Normal presentation control means 221 Presentation mode control means 222 Presentation route determination means 223 Sub hold control means 224 Pre-reading presentation control means 225 Presentation content determination means 226 Decorative pattern control means 227 Big win presentation control means 230 Sub error control means 240 Lamp control means 245 Movable role control means 260 Sub information storage means 265 Customization control means 270 Sub command management means 300 Second sub-control board 309 Second sub-control board case 310 Sound control board 311 CPU
312 ROM
313 RAM
314 I/O port 400 Dispensing control board 409 Dispensing control board case 500 Power supply control board 501 Normal power supply circuit 502 Backup power supply circuit 503 Power interruption detection circuit 509 Power supply control board case 811 Display area 812 Display area X First flow path Y Second flow path ssg Operation recommendation image ssg1 Normal operation recommendation image ssg2 Special operation recommendation image ikg Collective customization image kkg Individual customization image

Claims (2)

A gaming machine capable of executing a pattern change accompanied by a winning/losing judgment, and capable of executing a winning game after the winning/losing judgment is performed and a specific result is derived in the winning/losing judgment,
The game device is configured to be able to customize game effects,
The content of the customization is changeable based on a game operation,
The content of the customization is changeable during a non-play period when neither the symbol variation nor the winning game is being executed,
When the power is turned on without executing the RAM clear process, the contents of the customization are initialized,
When a power outage occurs during the pattern change and the power is turned on without executing the RAM clear process, the pattern change is restored.
If a power outage occurs during the pattern change and then the power is turned on with the RAM clear process, the pattern change will not be restored.
Image display means;
A display control means for controlling the image display means;
Equipped with
The display control means
It is possible to display an image related to the change in the content of the customization,
In the first case where a power interruption occurs during the execution of a pattern variation in which the result of the win/loss judgment is a loss and the power is then turned on without executing a RAM clear process, the image display means is in a recovery state in which it can be specified that the image display is being restored until the end of the pattern variation, and then the recovery state ends based on the end of the pattern variation, and the display of the game image is restored;
In a second case where a power interruption occurs during the non-play state and then the power is turned on without executing a RAM clear process, the image display means does not enter the restored state and returns to displaying the game image;
At the second time, a game operation related to the change in the content of the customization may be enabled at a timing later than the first time based on a timing at which the display of the game image is restored;
The content of the customization is configured to be changeable during the execution of the pattern variation,
When a new pattern variation is started during a period from when the display of the game image related to the second time is restored to when the game operation related to the change in the content of the customization is enabled, the game operation related to the change in the content of the customization may be enabled based on the start of the pattern variation.
A gaming machine characterized by: 2. The gaming machine according to claim 1,
When the power is turned on with the RAM clear process being executed, the contents of the customization are initialized,
the display control means, when a power-on is performed accompanied by the execution of a RAM clear process, causes the image display means to return to the display of the game image without entering the return state;
At the specific time, a specific notification is executed,
At the specific time, a game operation related to the change in the content of the customization is enabled based on the end of the specific notification, so that the game operation related to the change in the content of the customization may be enabled at a timing later than the second time based on the timing at which the display of the game image is restored.
A gaming machine characterized by:

Images